BSNL finally breaks silence over Rs 1757 crore loss to Centre due to Mukesh Ambani’s Jio, says…

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), the state-owned telecom operator, has disapproved claims of a Rs 1757.76-crore revenue loss to the Centre due to non-billing of Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL). BSNL has clarified that the alleged loss was inaccurately overestimated and said that there were errors in interpretation and application of contractual clauses.

BSNL On Revenue Loss

In its response to the Department of Expenditure (DoE), BSNL stated that previous claims of revenue loss were based on misrepresentation and an erroneous application of provisions related to add-on components in the Master Service Agreement (MSA). The company stated that there was no actual revenue loss to BSNL and that invoices of Rs 108 crore had already been raised for Reliance Jio. BSNL is pursuing Jio for additional payments beyond the base rental charges under the agreement.

CAG’s Audit Report

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had earlier highlighted BSNL for failing to enforce the terms of its MSA with Reliance Jio which led to Rs 1,757.76-crore loss between 2016 and 2020. The report alleged that BSNL did not bill Jio for additional technology deployed on BSNL’s passive telecom infrastructure. It also highlighted non-adherence to escalation clauses, resulting in a revenue loss of Rs 29 crore, including GST, for infrastructure sharing charges.

However, BSNL’s responded in the matter and disagreed with the claims and claimed that the CAG report overlooked the reciprocal nature of the agreement with Reliance Jio and the fact that rates for additional technology were already agreed upon in April 2018.

BSNL stated that it had finalized an addendum to the MSA with Jio on January 31, 2025, to reflect charges for using both TDD and FDD technologies for 4G beyond the standard configuration. The revised agreements are as per government policies promoting infrastructure sharing among telecom operators.

Infrastructure Sharing Overview

To reduce capital expenditure (capex) and operational costs (opex), BSNL initiated an infrastructure-sharing arrangement in 2014 with Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea. By 2020, BSNL had shared 13,146 mobile towers, of which 8,363 were with Jio, 2,779 with Bharti Airtel, and 1,782 with Vodafone Idea.

Jio made payments of Rs 171.81 crore (2016–17), Rs 472.80 crore (2017–18), Rs 678.38 crore (2018–19), and Rs 402.28 crore for the first three quarters of 2019–20, as per available data.

BSNL is preparing to submit its final response to the Centre, subject to necessary approvals, by the end of the month.

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