BSNL which is yet to pay August salaries wants to give an attractive retirement package to 80,000 employees

• State-owned telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is considering to reduce 80,000 employees with a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) to cut down on its operational costs.
  
• BSNL revenues dipped from ₹32,000 crores to ₹ 18,000 crores, according to its Employee Union.
  
• It is also looking to reduce its energy consumption by 15% to keep itself afloat.
  
• The company has not paid the August salaries to its employees, which has led to massive protests by the contractual workers.

State-owned telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) is looking to cut its headcount by 80,000 employees by offering an attractive Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS).

The debt-ridden telecom company which is looking to reduce its operational costs, is awaiting government response to its scheme. Once approved, the operator will cut the headcount to half of its existing workforce in India, Pravin Kumar Purwar, Chairman of BSNL told ET.

With this, the telco is looking to outsource employees on a contractual basis to run operations. However, even after retiring the said number, it will have as many as 100,000 employees on payroll.

The move will boost revenue of the company as employees cost three fourths of its total revenue.

According to the Employee Union, “BSNL revenues dipped from ₹32,000 crore to ₹ 18,000 crore. The government has not taken any meaningful action to curb the predatory pricing.”

“The number of persons in the organisation are far higher than the competitors. One of the proposals under discussion is the VRS. We are looking forward to reduce 70,000 to 80,000 employees, and make it attractive for the employees, so that they can see value in the VRS," Purwar noted.

It is also tightening costs by reducing its energy consumption by 15%.

It is not just BSNL but all telcos are suffering from reduced income from data services, thanks to Jio’s prices. BSNL is looking to loop in 4G services to keep up with the financial costs.

Meanwhile, the telco is also looking to address the payment dues as it is yet to pay its August salaries, The News Minute reported. This is the third time that the company has delayed salaries.

In fact, over 6,500 BSNL’s employees in Telangana protested due to the delay in salaries.

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