The state run MTNL and BSNL have deferred the employees’ pay for the third consecutive time. According to reports, MTNL employees have not got their August and September salary. Their July salary was credited in the last week of September. There has been silence since then about the salaries due for the month of August and September.

According to a media report, “There isn’t enough money coming in from internal accruals. Even though BSNL is generating about ₹1,400 crore per month, this is not adequate to cover the wages, as a major portion of the proceeds is required for operational expenses and statutory payments.”

“After much deliberation, the July salary was credited just a few days ago. August and September salaries are now pending. We will protest soon,” said AK Kaushik, general secretary of the Telecom Executive Association of MTNL (Delhi-Mumbai).

The state-owned telco, which is battling a liquidity crunch, is likely to pay its 164,000-strong workforce in the next 15-20 days. Salaries of both BSNL and MTNL are supposed to be credited on the last working day of the month. BSNL’s salary expenses are about ₹800 crore, as the firm employs 1,63,902 personnel, of which, 46,597 are executives and 1,17,305 non-executives. MTNL has about 22,000 employees and the salary expenses come up to Rs 160 crore.

The BSNL trade unions have called for a “lunch-hour demonstration” on Tuesday, October 1, to protest against salary delay and non-payment of wages to contract workers and total ban on capital expenditure. BSNL has demanded that the government must take the responsibility of paying all the BSNL employees it is the owner of the company.