DoT may choose lower retirement age over voluntary retirement scheme

Employees of BSNL may be asked to end their service at 58 years

The relief package for debt-laden Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) might be delayed as the department of telecom (DoT) considers lowering the retirement age of the employees of the government-owned telecom major to 58 years, instead of offering a one-time voluntary retirement scheme (VRS).

The outgo for proposed VRS package would be Rs 6,365 crore. The Ministry of Finance had raised concerns over this.

Once the DoT finalises what it wants to do, the proposal would go straight to the Union Cabinet — instead of the Digital Communications Commission (DCC) — to avoid delays.

The DoT might also offer VRS to