Nationwide outage: Software transition disrupts BSNL SIM services

CHENNAI: BSNL customers across Chennai have been facing severe inconvenience as the telecom company’s services remain disrupted for nearly a week following the transition to a new software system.

Those applying for new SIM cards or replacement SIMs have been repeatedly asked to “come back after a few days,” with no clear timeline given for resolution. The BSNL unions claim it is a nationwide issue.

The issue stems from the expiry of a contract of the Sanchar Aadhaar system, which is required for issuing new and duplicate SIM cards. BSNL sources said, “the contract of the company operating Sanchar Aadhaar expired on November 30 and has not been renewed by the BSNL. The new indigenous system, Sanchar Mitra, introduced to replace it, is also not functioning. As a result, BSNL’s customer service centres across the city, including those inside telephone exchanges, have been unable to issue new SIMs, replacement SIMs or 4G upgrade SIMs.”

When DT Next visited the BSNL customer care centre in Perambur to get a new SIM, the staff said the system had been down for days due to a “server issue” and advised to return after four days. When asked whether other centres in Chennai could help, the staff said that the problem was citywide.

One BSNL employee at a different centre admitted that the new app was not functioning as intended. “I tested a SIM for a customer and it did not activate even after a day. Senior officials are not taking responsibility. We have been told to handle it ourselves,” the staffer said.

CK Mathivanan, national president, National Federation of Telecom Employees (BSNL), said it is an issue across the country and no news SIMs are issued.

Former telecom advisory member V Sathiabalan said the prolonged delay could push frustrated customers to switch to private operators.

A senior official from BSNL Chennai Telephones said efforts were underway to restore the system, “and we expect services to resume by Sunday.”