Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) board has decided to go for the implementation of VRS (Voluntary Retirement Scheme) 2.0, as per media reports. However, this hasn't bode well with the telco's employees. In a letter to BSNL Chairman and Managing Director, Robert J Ravi, BSNLEU, a representative employee union of BSNL employees, said that they are against VRS 2.0. The telco's board wants to reduce expenses toward employees with VRS 2.0, something which also happened in 2020.
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BSNLEU gave several reasons as to why VRS 2.0 should not be implemented. The union said that BSNL hasn't been able to increase revenues depsite three relief packages in five years. Further, BSNL is still relying on 2G and 3G, while the private telecom operators have invested and rolled out 5G. BSNLEU also mentioned that despite having the largest fiber infrastructure, its FTTH (Fiber-to-the-Home) services rank third, overtaken by Jio and Airtel.
A delay in 4G equipment installation and commission is one of the biggest issues in providing customers with good quality services, the union said. Also, they mentioned that the government's policy to only allow BSNL to use homegrown equipment is flawed. The parliamentary panel recently advised the government that BSNL should be allowed to take expertise in technology from foreign companies also. BSNL's goal is to deploy 1 lakh 4G sites by June 2025.
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The union said that after steep tariff hikes from the private mobile operators, customers ported into BSNL, but they are leaving now. The telco's union also mentioned that the outsourcing of FTTH and landline connection maintenance has resulted in deterioration in quality of services provided. BSNL is facing massive disconnections of its FTTH connections due to poor quality of services, said the union.
BSNL employees want that the maintenance of the FTTH connections and landline should come back to BSNL only so that a higher level of quality control can be maintained.
