Govt disburses first tranche of BSNL, MTNL employees' VRS package

Amid the coronavirus (Covid-19) gloom, there is some reason to cheer for employees of Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL). This is because the Centre has started disbursing the Rs 5,000 crore first installment of the voluntary retirement scheme (VRS).
 

An official said, “All dues and pending salaries of BSNL and MTNL staff have been paid and the first tranche of the VRS package worth Rs 5,000 crore has been released.” It is learnt that the salary for March will be given to the employees of BSNL and MTNL on April 3.
 

With payment of the VRS package, the monthly staff cost of BSNL stands at Rs 600 crore, and for MTNL, it is Rs 45 crore.

On October 24, the Centre approved a package of nearly Rs 70,000 crore for BSNL and MTNL and also drew up a timeline to merge them.
 

Monetising real estate assets worth Rs 37,500 crore is part of the overall relief package. It would be used to retire debt, upgrade networks and offer a VRS aimed at reducing the companies’ employee strength by half. The relief package includes a sovereign bond issue worth Rs 15,000 crore, to be serviced by the two telcos. Also, BSNL and MTNL will be allotted 4G spectrum at an administered price, pegged at the 2016 auction value.
 

The two firms would be allotted 4G spectrum worth Rs 20,140 crore and Rs 29,937 crore for VRS. This will be covering 50 per cent of their employees and Rs 3,674 crore for goods and services tax (GST) that will be levied on allocation of radio waves.
 

The ex gratia component of VRS, to be offered to employees aged 50 years and above, will require Rs 17,169-crore budgetary support.