The Hindu : National : BSNL staffers in international call racket?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Nov 19, 2004

National

National

BSNL staffers in international call racket?

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, NOV. 18. Suspecting connivance between former telecom officers who have joined private phone companies and some Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) staffers in the "grey" international call racket, the Government has asked private companies to furnish the list of officers who have joined them, said a top official of the Communications Ministry here. The Government has also asked for explanations from two former officials who were involved in policy-planning and are now working with a major private phone company. However, the official refused to identify the company or the officers.

According to the rules, an officer who joins a private company within two years of retiring or resigning from Government service has to receive permission. Those who join after two years have to report to the Government. The Ministry feels that many officers have not followed these rules.

The problem of grey market in international calls came into the open after BSNL and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) slapped penalties on Reliance Infocomm for allegedly masking international calls entering the networks of the State-owned companies. By changing the international number to a local number, the company avoided paying Rs. 4.70 as access deficit charge for international calls and paid 80 paise that is charged for local calls, according to BSNL officials.

Vigilance committee

The Government has now set up a vigilance committee to monitor international calls round-the-clock to ensure that private phone companies and individuals who have taken lines from private companies do not mask the calls. The Communications Ministry has taken to policing after its attempt to persuade private phone companies to submit lists of individuals who have taken phone lines in bulk and could be misusing some of them, has led to litigation.

Toll-free lines

The Communications Minister, Dayanidhi Maran, said BSNL and MTNL have set up toll-free lines for receiving information from people who receive international calls but get local numbers on their phones. The success of the move might be limited because while the subscribers of BSNL and MTNL's cell phone service have caller identification line facility, most fixed phones do not have it.

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