Pay Up Rs.110 Cr BSNL Dues, All Government Deptartments Told

Hyderabad: With phone bill dues piling up and BSNL, which provides critical networking capabilities to the state government, demanding clearance of pending dues totaling a little over Rs 110 billion, all state government departments that have accumulated dues to the national operator have been reminded to make their payments.

Last week, a reminder was sent to various departments from the state IT, electronics and communications department, requesting that all department heads and companies attached to various departments “to release pending payments to BSNL, keeping in mind the importance of communication needs”.

The reminder also listed dues owed to BSNL from various departments and other government agencies; of which TSWAN (Telangana State Wide Area Network) had the largest dues of Rs.92,79,81,035 while the other five departments (municipal administration, IT, Meeseva, human resource development, police department) had dues ranging from Rs.1 crore to Rs.3 crore.

The TSWAN website says it integrates with Telangana Secretariat Campus Area Network (TSCAN), SDC and National Knowledge Network (NKN) and facilitates secure network services. In addition, it says it provides a dedicated central service desk and 24×7 Network Operation Center that connects over 46 departments, 101 sub-departments, provides various citizen services and provides video conferencing facilities to all district, mandal headquarters and user departments.

The lowest bill yet to be paid to BSNL is from Gayatri Cooperative Urban Bank Limited under the finance ministry, which owes Rs 143 crore to BSNL.

The last reminder and request for payment of dues from BSNL was received by the state government last August and in its letter, secretary of communications ministry and Telecommunications department, Dr. Neeraj Mittal said that Rs 110.16 billion will be paid to BSNL from the Telangana government as of July 31, 2025. Mittal said in his letter: “BSNL caters to the communication needs of most government departments, including the Armed Forces, majority of banks and financial institutions… Clearing the payment will not only stabilize BSNL’s operational capabilities but also support our ongoing efforts to enhance network capabilities.”

Highlighting the need for payment, the letter said that expediting the payment of dues to BSNL “without further delay” is not only “extremely critical for its survival and hence its ability to continue providing services to your State”.