BSNL slashes STD rates even as profits plummet

Similarly, a customer opting for BSNL’s economy plan would now pay Rs 1.50 per minute and for special plan he would pay Rs 1.37 per minute. On whether the company was considering tariff reduction for intercircle calls (calls from one circle to another), Singh said, “the traffic in this segment is not so much as within a circle.”

“But we will consider it, and when the new interconnect usage charges regime is implemented we will make announcements,” he said.

Meanwhile, Hit by a rise in expenses arising out of payment of arrears, BSNL reported a 76 per cent dip in its profits for 2002-03 to Rs 1,444 crore, and said it is formulating a VRS package to trim workforce. BSNL’s total workforce is currently pegged at 3.5 lakh, and it plans to bring it down by ‘few thousand’ people in the ‘first year’ of the introduction of VRS. “We may look at some specific segments or services for vrs such as telegraph and factory,” he said.