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Sunday, Aug 19, 2007
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Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Sunday, Aug 19, 2007 ePaper |
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Telecommunications Industry & Economy - PSU Government - States
Bulk of the defaulters are fixed line telephone users. The two companies have to claim Rs 4,600 crore from landline users, while the balance is from mobile users.
Thomas K. Thomas New Delhi, Aug. 18 With Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd facing huge losses due to unpaid bills, the Union Government has requested the State Governments to amend their respective land revenue Acts so that telephone dues can be recovered as land revenue arrears from the defaulting subscribers. The two public sector telecom companies together have nearly Rs 5,300 crore as outstanding arrears. Of this, while BSNL has to get Rs 4,174 crore, MTNL has a burden of Rs 1,228 crore. The unpaid amount adds to the woes of the two PSUs, which have been witnessing declining growth rate in their subscriber base over the past few months. While MTNL’s Delhi operation is running in losses, BSNL’s profits dipped to Rs 8,940 crore for the fiscal year 2005-06 compared with Rs 10,183 crore in the previous year. Bulk of the defaulters are fixed line telephone users where BSNL and MTNL has seen a huge decline in subscriber base. “Fixed line users are increasingly taking a mobile connection and some of those who shift do not pay their final bill,” said a BSNL official. The two companies have to claim Rs 4,600 crore from landline users, while the balance is from mobile users. Once the proposed amendments take place, part of the responsibility for collecting the dues would fall on the State Government, which would then pass on the money to the telecom companies. According to senior BSNL officials, the punitive measures for non-payment of land revenue is also more stringent thereby it could act as deterrent to the telephone bill defaulters. recovery process
In a bid to minimise the unpaid bill amount in the future, the two companies are tightening up their recovery processes. BSNL has been given permission to appoint recovery agents on an outsourcing model just like private telecom operators. Instructions have been issued to monitor the billing and collection of high-end callers who contribute a larger share of the revenue. An Outstanding Pursuit Cell has also been set up in each circle to follow up the cases. Each circle has been given a target for liquidation of the outstanding dues and this is being directly monitored by the Chairman and Managing Director of BSNL.
Related Stories: MTNL banks on Net TV, VoIP to improve margins MTNL Q4 net up 47%; income falls 13% BSNL mobile growth slumps BSNL seeks consultants' help as market share declines More Stories on : Telecommunications | PSU | States | Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd
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