New Delhi: Several MPs at a parliamentary meeting on Tuesday flagged the issue of poor telecom connectivity in rural and remote areas, especially by private operators, stating that public-run BSNL fares better in these regions despite lacking the advanced infrastructure of its private sector rivals, sources said.
Top officials from the Department of Telecommunications and service providers like Airtel, Jio and BSNL appeared before the Public Accounts Committee, headed by Congress MP K C Venugopal, as the panel grilled private operators.
Sources said the panel has asked for a report on different telecom service providers' coverage and enhancement in infrastructure like new towers.
They said many MPs were of the view that private operators provide deficient services in rural, remote and border areas besides the northeast region.
BSNL despite lacking the modern infra compared to its private counterparts does better, they added.
The PAC's meeting agenda was to discuss a CAG audit report on "revenue sharing by telecom service providers with government.
After the meeting, Venugopal said, "We thoroughly discussed the issues related to common public grievances."
Noting that the CAG had flagged the loss of revenue due to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in litigation, the committee asked it to submit a report on the details of its legal cases.
Sources said MPs also asked the department about the ongoing exercise to connect all village panchayats with optical fibre network and were told thay its third phase is currently on.
The committee asked the department to share the details of goals attained in the first two phases, sources said.
Citing a case study, committee members noted that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), which was represented by its secretary Neeraj Mittal, lost the chance to levy Rs 577.26 crore against service providers and quizzed officials on the reasons for such a "staggering difference" between provisional and final assessment, the sources said.
The audit report had flagged underassessment of revenue worth 2463,67 crore, which the department is in process of recovering from various operators.
Officials told the committee that the DoT revenue, including licence fee plus spectrum usage charges, has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 9.39 per cent since 2020-21, rising to Rs 30,261 crore from Rs 21,133 crore.
They also pointed out that a host of policy initiatives have helped the BSNL turn a net profit. A source said that most MPs were of the view that public sector operators needed to expand and boost its infra and services.
Officials said the DoT has taken a host of measures to address the issues flagged by the CAG. Over 2,300 officials, including 1,683 assistant accounts officers who are deemed critical to the assessment process, were recruited in 2018, 2022 and 2025 to facilitate revenue collection and assessment, according to the sources.
Key functionaries of Airtel, Jio, Vodafone and BSNL, besides representatives of the CAG, also attended the meeting.
Top officials from the Department of Telecommunications and service providers like Airtel, Jio and BSNL appeared before the Public Accounts Committee, headed by Congress MP K C Venugopal, as the panel grilled private operators.
Sources said the panel has asked for a report on different telecom service providers' coverage and enhancement in infrastructure like new towers.
They said many MPs were of the view that private operators provide deficient services in rural, remote and border areas besides the northeast region.
BSNL despite lacking the modern infra compared to its private counterparts does better, they added.
The PAC's meeting agenda was to discuss a CAG audit report on "revenue sharing by telecom service providers with government.
After the meeting, Venugopal said, "We thoroughly discussed the issues related to common public grievances."
Noting that the CAG had flagged the loss of revenue due to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in litigation, the committee asked it to submit a report on the details of its legal cases.
Sources said MPs also asked the department about the ongoing exercise to connect all village panchayats with optical fibre network and were told thay its third phase is currently on.
The committee asked the department to share the details of goals attained in the first two phases, sources said.
Citing a case study, committee members noted that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), which was represented by its secretary Neeraj Mittal, lost the chance to levy Rs 577.26 crore against service providers and quizzed officials on the reasons for such a "staggering difference" between provisional and final assessment, the sources said.
The audit report had flagged underassessment of revenue worth 2463,67 crore, which the department is in process of recovering from various operators.
Officials told the committee that the DoT revenue, including licence fee plus spectrum usage charges, has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 9.39 per cent since 2020-21, rising to Rs 30,261 crore from Rs 21,133 crore.
They also pointed out that a host of policy initiatives have helped the BSNL turn a net profit. A source said that most MPs were of the view that public sector operators needed to expand and boost its infra and services.
Officials said the DoT has taken a host of measures to address the issues flagged by the CAG. Over 2,300 officials, including 1,683 assistant accounts officers who are deemed critical to the assessment process, were recruited in 2018, 2022 and 2025 to facilitate revenue collection and assessment, according to the sources.
Key functionaries of Airtel, Jio, Vodafone and BSNL, besides representatives of the CAG, also attended the meeting.
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