Tuesday, January 18 2005 16:32 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: State owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited today (Jan 18, 2005) said that there was a possibility of increasing the rentals and call charges of fixed line phones, even in the rural areas, to make up for losses due to lowering of levy rates announced by telecom regulator TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) recently.

"We are looking at some re-arrangements to compensate for the loss to the tune of Rs 1,254 crore due to lowered Access Deficit Charge (ADC). The options include upward revision in the monthly rentals, increasing call charges and reducing free calls," BSNL CMD A K Sinha said.

BSNL offers telecom services across the country except in Delhi and Mumbai where the services are offered by MTNL.

Asked if the corporation would be able to make these changes as the issue was politically sensitive, Sinha said, "We have written to the Department of Telecom (DoT) listing out detailed analysis of the new ADC regime including its impact and the options available with us."

There are about 1.6 crore village telephones on which the rental varied between Rs 50 to 100 per month and on top of that there were free calls, Sinha quipped and pointed out that cost based rental comes to about Rs 362 a month.

BSNL has been charging Rs 1.20 for a three-minute call as against TRAI's prescribed Rs 1.20 for a two-minute call.

Sinha also said that loss of Rs 1,254 crore due to new ADC rates could impact BSNL's future investment programme.