92,700 BSNL, MTNL employees opt for voluntary retirement

NEW DELHI, Dec 3: The voluntary retirement scheme of BSNL and MTNL on Tuesday closed with over 92,700 employees opting for it, according to senior officials of the public sector telecom companies.

Around 78,300 employees of BSNL and 14,378 of MTNL have opted for the scheme.

"Approximately 78,300 employees have opted for the VRS as per data received from all the circles till the closing of the scheme. This is as per our target. We were expecting reduction of 82,000 headcount. Besides VRS applicants, around 6,000 employees also retired," said BSNL Chairman and Managing Director P K Purwar.

The PSUs had set December 3 as last date for employees to opt for VRS.

MTNL Chairman and Managing Director Sunil Kumar said that the PSU too has exceeded the target set for VRS.

"14,378 employees have opted for VRS against target of 13,650 employees. This will reduce our annual salary bill from Rs 2,272 crore to Rs 500 crore. Now we are left with 4,430 employees which is sufficient to run our business," Kumar said.

Airtel, Voda, Jio hike tariffs

Dec 1: After Vodafone-Idea and Airtel, Reliance Jio has announced it will soon introduce new all-in-one plans. The revised all-in-one plans will come into effect on December 6, 2019.

Reliance Jio in its release said that new all-in-one plans will come with unlimited voice and data. The plans will also feature a fair usage policy for calls to other mobile networks.

While Reliance Jio hasn’t announced complete details yet, it has confirmed new all-in-one plans will be priced up to 40% higher. The company said it will bundle up to 300% more benefits to compensate for the price hike.

“While remaining committed to the ultimate interest of the consumer, Jio will take all necessary steps to help sustain the Indian telecommunications industry. Jio will continue to work with the Government on the consultation process for revision of telecom tariffs and looks forward to participation from all other stakeholders,” said Reliance Jio in the release.

Earlier today, Airtel and Vodafone Idea announced revised mobile plans for their subscribers. Airtel said its revised plans represent hike in tariff between 50 paise per day to Rs 2.85 per day. Airtel’s plans also include fair-usage-policy on unlimited calling from Airtel to other networks. According to PTI, Vodafone Idea’s new plans are costlier by up to 42% compared to the older plans.

Revised plans from Airtel and Vodafone Idea will come into effect from December 3, 2019.

Airtel to hike mobile calling, data tariffs

NEW DELHI, Dec 1: After Vodafone-Idea, Airtel on Sunday announced revised mobile calling and data tariffs for its subscribers. The revised prices will come into effect from December 3, 2019.

Airtel’s new revised plans represent hike in tariff between 50 paise per day to Rs 2.85 per day. Airtel also noted that fair-usage-policy will apply on unlimited calling from Airtel to other networks. All calls beyond FUP limit will be charged at 6 paise/min.

“Our new mobile plans offer tremendous value to our customers and are backed by a superior network experience on Airtel’s nationwide 4G network. Airtel will continue to make large investments in emerging technologies and digital platforms to deliver world-class experiences to our customers,” Shashwat Sharma, Chief Marketing Officer, Bharti Airtel in a release.

The announcement comes shortly after Vodafone-Idea announced raising mobile calling and data charges from December 3. According to a report, the new plans are costlier by up to 42% compared to the older plans.

“Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL), India’s leading telecom service provider, today announced new tariffs/plans for its prepaid products and services. New plans will be available across India starting 00:00 hours of 3 December 2019,” the company said in a statement.

Reliance Jio has also announced it will soon introduce new all-in-one plans with hiked tariffs. Jio’s updated plans will come into effect on December 6, 2019.

“While remaining committed to the ultimate interest of the consumer, Jio will take all necessary steps to help sustain the Indian telecommunications industry. Jio will continue to work with the Government on the consultation process for revision of telecom tariffs and looks forward to participation from all other stakeholders,” said Reliance Jio in a release.

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