BSNL Refutes Rs 1,757-Crore Loss Claim Over Reliance Jio Billing Issue: Report

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is preparing a detailed response to the Department of Expenditure (DoE), contesting the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) claim that the state-run telecom operator suffered a loss of Rs 1,757.76 crore due to non-billing of Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (RJIL) for shared telecom infrastructure between May 2014 and March 2024.

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Also Read: BSNL’s Lapses Cost Govt Rs 1,757 Crore in Unbilled Charges to Reliance Jio: Report

BSNL Responds to CAG’s Allegations

“There is no revenue loss to BSNL, as previous demand, and therefore, loss (of Rs 1,757.76-crore) had been erroneously overestimated due to misrepresentation and application of the clause for add-on components,” said the state-run telco in its response, according to an ETTelecom report.

Furthermore, the telecom company is likely to state in its rejoinder that the circles had already issued invoices to Reliance Jio amounting to Rs 108 crore and are actively pursuing the collection of additional charges beyond the standard base rental paid by the private telco.

“BSNL failed to enforce the Master Service Agreement (MSA) with M/s. Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJIL) and did not bill it for the additional technology used on BSNL’s shared passive infrastructure, resulting in loss of Rs 1,757.76-crore and penal interest thereon, between May 2014 to March 2024 to the government exchequer,” CAG in its report said, as per an earlier report.

The country’s auditor apparently overlooked the fact that the agreement with Jio for infrastructure sharing was reciprocal in nature, the report quoted unnamed sources as saying.