The public sector telecom operator, Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL), is yet to recover dues of Rs.3,092 crore as of March 31, from its customers, including government departments, reports the Economic Times. The amount exceeds the Telecom major's annual profit in 2007-08 and is about 10% of its annual revenues.
Data presented to Parliament say Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL) is yet to recover dues of to Rs.870 crore from private and public sector customers. Figures reveal that had the amount been recovered, the company would not have posted a loss in the fourth quarter. Both the telecom majors have to recover Rs.4,000 crore.
Gurudas Kamat, minister of state for communications and information technology, said that the reason for the dues yet to realized by the two telecom PSUs was mainly because of migration of defaulting subscribers to other service providers.
Ascentius Consulting principal analyst Alok Shende says BSNL has big arrears to collect, both on fixed-line and post-paid mobile customers. This reflects the poor collection management practices of these PSUs, and it may pave the way for good customers to turn delinquent, as they feel they can get away with it. He adds that from experience it is seen the cost of collection is high, and hence these PSUs write them off as bad debts.
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