The Telecom Commission has proposed a voluntary retirement scheme for MTNL employees who are 50 years of age and above in an attempt to revive the los-making public sector telecom operator.
It has also been proposed to monetise existing assets of the company by sharing of towers, optical fibre, deployment of CCTV cameras and renting of building to increase its revenues.
“Employee cost for MTNL is about 78 per cent of its revenues against an industry average of three percent... the government would spend around Rs.2,000 crore in all for VRS and can save around Rs.500 crore to Rs.600 crore in a year,” an official said after the meeting of the Telecom Commission.
The money saved will be kept separately and used only for equipment maintenance and replacement, which will lead to better quality of service for the customers, the official added.
MTNL has around 46,000 employees, of which 26,000 will be retiring in the next 10 years. The government will be giving the VRS option to 20 per cent of its employees who are above 50 years of age (about 5,300).
The official said the proposal will go to the Cabinet for approval in the next few days.
With the monetisation of assets the department expects to generate revenues of about Rs.1,000 crore, the official said, adding that the PSU is taking several other measures that will further help reduce expenditure by Rs.300 crore annually.
The state-run firm had posted a net loss of Rs.704.93 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2015.
MTNL offers services in Delhi and Mumbai.
