PM intervenes as fixed line rate increase raises a political storm
The government today asked Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) to reduce its fixed line tariffs, which attracted a political storm in the past few days.
BSNL had increased tariffs for fixed-to-cell calls by 500 per cent from Rs 1.20 for a 3-minute call to Rs 1.20 for 30 seconds, and reduced the number of free calls from 70 to 30 from May 1. The company is now expected to announce its revised tariffs in the next few days.
Government officials said BSNL might restore the 70 free calls and bring its fixed-to-cell tariffs on a par with those of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, which charged Rs 1.20 a minute for such a call.
The move came after Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee met Communications Minister Arun Shourie today to discuss the controversy over the BSNL tariff hike. Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh and BJP president Venkaiah Naidu were also present at the hour-long meeting at Vajpayee's residence.
The Prime Minister had called for a meeting with Shourie on Thursday, but it had to be postponed because of the demise of the former
