(a) whether the BSNL is on the verge of total collapse under the public communication system and if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether the public communication system is getting affected due to poor performance of BSNL; and
(c) if so, the figures of loss incurred by BSNL during the last five years and the effective measures being taken by the Government to strengthen BSNL?
MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS
(SHRI DEVUSINH CHAUHAN)
(a) to (c) The Government approved a revival plan for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) on 23.10.2019. The revival plan inter-alia includes measures to reduce the Staff cost through a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) for employees of age 50 years and above, administrative allotment of spectrum for providing 4G services with funding through budgetary allocation, monetisation of non-core and core assets to generate resources to retire debt, meet CAPEX and other requirement and debt restructuring by raising of Sovereign Guarantee Bonds.
As a result of these measures, BSNL has turned EBITDA positive (operating profit) in 2020-21.
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) monitors the performance of the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) including BSNL against the benchmarks for various Quality of Service (QoS) parameters laid down by TRAI by way of QoS regulations issued from time to time, through Quarterly Performance Monitoring Reports (PMRs). As per PMR for quarter ending Sep 2021, BSNL is meeting, in general, most of the QoS parameters for its cellular and basic services in its areas of operation.
The details of loss incurred by BSNL during the last five years are as follows:
Year Loss (In Rs Cr)
2016-17 4,793
2017-18 7,993
2018-19 14,904
2019-20 15,500
2020-21 7,441