Jamshedpur, May 15: The Jamshedpur circle of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has decided to act tough against such subscribers who has switched over to private telecom operators without clearing their outstanding BSNL bills.

BSNL sources informed that the decision was taken recently at a meeting.

It was decided that BSNL would direct the three private telecom companies ? Reliance, Tata Indicom and Airtel ? operating in the circle to snap connections of both BSNL landline and cellular phone post-paid subscribers, who have defaulted in clearing payments of their phone bills and later opted for private telecom services.

?We will be issuing letters shortly to private telecom operators asking them to snap lines of defaulters who have discarded our service due to outstanding bills and opted for private ones. Both, the Inter Connect User (ICU) charges agreement and licence agreement with private players have a common clause which states that on getting information of such cases, they should immediately disconnect services of those subscribers who have failed to clear the BSNL bills,? said K.N. Jha, deputy general manager (Finance), BSNL, Jamshedpur circle.

According to Jha, BSNL would furnish the list of such subscribers to all the three private telecom operators in the circle. The move is aimed at putting a check on such erring subscribers.

It would also help in realising the outstanding dues from such subscribers. Due to this, the state-owned telecom company is facing a revenue loss worth several lakh, he said and added that this is for the first time such a step has been initiated in this telecom circle.

BSNL officials revealed that there are about 1,500 such subscribers identified so far in the Jamshedpur telecom circle, who have switched over to private telecom companies without clearing their BSNL dues. The department identified such subscribers by conducting a survey. Officials said the survey is on and more such subscribers are likely to come to notice in the days to come.

A senior official of Reliance Telecom admitted that at the time of launching their services in the Jamshedpur telecom circle, they had to sign the agreement on the basis of which a permission is granted for operation. ?We welcome the decision taken by BSNL authorities. On getting the list of such subscribers, we would verify them at our end and take appropriate action,? said the official.

Officials of Airtel, another private telecom operator echoed the same. ?The regulations of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) also state that the private operators should disconnect telephone lines be it landline or cellular phones in case of such subscribers having outstanding bill pending with the state-owned BSNL,? said an official.

Sources in BSNL informed that default notice under Section 442 and 423 of Indian Telegraphic Rule have been served to nearly 4,000 subscribers in the three districts ? East Singhbhum, Seraikela-Kharsawan and West Singhbhum ? under the Jamshedpur circle. The defaulters have been given 15-days notice for clearing the dues or else necessary legal action would be taken against them, they added.