Public sector telecom carrier BSNL has said there is no plan to effect any lay-offs in the company, as well as any move to reduce the retirement age although an attractive VRS is underway for "willing" employees.
"Turnaround of BSNL being devised by DoT and BSNL includes allotment of 4G spectrum and offering lucrative VRS to willing staff. Reduction of retirement age or laying off employees is not at all being considered. BSNL denies any such media appearances in this regard," CMD of BSNL Anupam Shrivastava has tweeted.
His assertion comes amidst a media report that said the PSU was planning to axe 54,000 employees and there is a plan to reduce retirement age from 60 to 58 years as part of a retrenchment plan. The final call on this was to be taken after the Lok Sabha elections.
The Department of Telecommunications, meanwhile, has sought the Election Commission's approval to draft a cabinet note for the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited's Voluntary Retirement Scheme and has sent the 4G administrative spectrum proposals to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for discussion and recommendations on allocation, quantum and price.
BSNL, which has faced turbulent times in the heat of competition, might in the next few months start 4G LTE services, which would shore up its revenues and subscribers base and a Rs 6,353 crore VRS package targeting 50 years and above employees that might result in significant HR bill reduction from the current Rs 900 crore a month.
BSNL has 1.76 lakh employees, which have been mostly from the DoT employees at the time of creation of BSNL and its wage cost is 55-60 per cent of the revenue.
The report stated that trimming the retirement age would reduce the employee count by 33,568 employees. With this move, BSNL would save a total of Rs 13,895 crore over the next six years on wages.