BSNL may delay salary payout in Sept too
Rajesh Kurup Mumbai | Updated on September 28, 2019 Published on September 28, 2019
‘Not enough funds for wages, as major portion needed for operational expenses’
State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) is staring at another salary delay, with the ailing telecom firm expected to credit employees’ wages for September 15-20 days late.
This comes even as a crucial meeting convened on Thursday to decide on a revival package for the Public Sector Unit (PSU) ended inconclusively.
“There isn’t enough money coming in from internal accruals. Even though BSNL is generating about Rs. 1,400 crore per month, this is not adequate to cover the wages, as a major portion of the proceeds is required for operational expenses and statutory payments,” a source close to the development told BusinessLine .
“The company is definitely staring at another salary default,” added the source.
The operational expenses include electricity bills, labour costs, rent (for towers and rural exchanges), transportation costs and fuel costs (vehicles and towers). The statutory payments include Tax Deducted at Source (TDS), Employee’s Provident Fund (EPF) and Goods and Services Tax (GST), among others.
Fourth default
BSNL will pay only a part of the vendors’ charges and operational expenses, the bare minimum required to ensure there is no disruption of services. But it will have to make the entire statutory payments, whether it has funds to pay the salary or not, another source confirmed. The sources declined to be identified as the company is yet to make an official announcement.
As per company policy, salaries are credited on the last working day of every month. BSNL’s salary expenses come to about Rs. 750-850 crore, as the firm employs 1,63,902 personnel, of which 46,597 are executives and 1,17,305 non-executives.
This would be the fourth time the company would be missing the due date. BSNL had paid the August salary after an 18 days’ lag, while July’s staff wages were footed on August 5, after February salary paid later in March. The employees are expected to move BSNL management, through various unions, seeking early disbursal of salary.
