Over 13 lakh deposit-refund cases pending with BSNL for surrendered landline connections: Govt

Over 13 lakh cases pertaining to the refund of deposits for the surrendered landline connections are pending with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) as on January 2022, and 1.4 lakh such cases are due with Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL), the Parliament was informed on Friday. Main reasons for the pendency of these cases are non-availability of updated bank account details of customers and also temporary shortage of funds, Minister of State for Communications Devusinh Chauhan said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

The oldest pendency case for BSNL dates back to 2019 and for MTNL, it is 2020.

"As on 31.01.2022, a total of 13,15,806 cases of refund of deposits by consumers, who have surrendered landline connections are pending with BSNL and 1,44,201 cases are pending with MTNL," Chauhan said.

According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) norms, refund of security deposit has to be done within 60 days from the closure or disconnection.

Customers are being contacted by BSNL and MTNL for updating their information, including bank details for effecting refunds, the minister said.

To another question, Chauhan said OneWeb India, Jio Satellite Communication Services and Starlink Satellite Communications are among the companies that have submitted proposals for offering satellite-based communication services, including broadband services in India.

The application received from OneWeb India Communication is for issuance of Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) authorisation under unified-license, with National Long Distance (NLD) authorisation already being obtained from the Department of Telecom (DoT).

Jio Satellite Communication Services has applied for issuance of GMPCS authorisation under unified-license.

Separate applications have also been received from Nelco and Starlink Satellite Communications for issue of experimental license.

"Recently, the following Indian companies having collaboration with foreign satellite operators have approached the Department of Telecom (DoT) and submitted their proposals for offering satellite-based communication services, including broadband services in India," Chauhan said and cited the name of four companies.

The applications are being considered under the extant rules, Chauhan said.