After a delay of 23 days, debt-laden Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has credited September salary on Wednesday with most of it being funded from internal accruals. Further, some payment from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) was also used to pay employees wages, sources close to the development said.
As per the company’s policy, salaries are credited on the last working day of every month. Earlier on Wednesday, BSNL unions deferred their hunger strike, following a meeting with the company’s top brass, who promised to pay the September salary today.
This was the fourth time that BSNL missed the salary date. The telecom PSU had paid the August salary after an 18-day lag, while July’s wages were credited on August 5, and February salary was paid later in March.
BSNL’s salary expenses amount to about ₹750-850 crore, as it employs 1,63,902 personnel, of which 46,597 are executives and 1,17,305 non-executives.