Minister of State for Communications Devusinh Chauhan in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on Friday has informed that more than 13 lakh cases regarding the refund of deposits for the BSNL landline connections that have been surrendered are still pending with the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd as of January 2022. The minister informed that the major reasons for the pending cases were the non-availability of updated bank account details of the consumers as well as a temporary shortage of funds.
The Reason for Pending Cases
According to a report from PTI, the oldest pending case with BSNL dates back to 2019 whereas it is 2020 for MTNL. Chauhan in his written reply informed that a total of 13,15,806 cases of refund deposits were pending as of January 31, 2022. These are the cases for the consumers who have surrendered their landlines and dues are pending with BSNL. In the case of MTNL, a total of 1,44,201 cases are pending.
It is to be noted that as per the guidelines of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), security deposits have to be refunded within 60 days from the closure or disconnection. Chauhan informed that BSNL and MTNL are contacting customers for their updated bank details which are delaying the refund process.
In related news, the Minister of State for Communications on Wednesday had also informed the Lok Sabha that the Indian government has no plans for the disinvestment of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd or BSNL. The question was raised regarding the immovable assets of the BSNL to which Chauhan replied that there is not even a consideration of disinvestment of BSNL. The immovable assets of the telco include buildings, lands, towers, telecom equipment and non-telecom equipment.
Separately Devusinh Chauhan also replied to another question stating that OneWeb India, Jio Satellite Communication Services and Starlink Satellite Communications are among the companies that have submitted proposals for offering satellite-based communication services, including broadband services in India. Chauhan informed that the Indian companies in collaboration with the foreign satellite operators have been approaching the DoT to submit their proposals for offering satellite-based communication services, including broadband services in India.
