New Delhi, Feb 16: The overall performance of cellular mobile telephone services (CMTs) of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) is not satisfactory, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India. As a result, MTNL witnessed a sharp fall in the subscribers' growth rate -- 55 per cent in Delhi and 46 per cent in Mumbai in 2002-03 -- for its Dolphin and Trump services, the CAG report said.

The overall loss of Rs 2.03 crore incurred by MTNL's CMTs in 2001-02 increased 14-fold to Rs 31.35 crore in 2002-03. The decline in the growth rates was due to the delays in obtaining licence for adjoining areas and in the procurement, installation and commissioning of equipment. Deficiencies in the billing system was also cited as a reason.

''Failure in initial planning for obtaining licence for adjoining areas of Delhi and Mumbai, cancellation of the initial global tender and failure to order for vital equipment for prepaid service system in time, resulted not only in non-achievement of targets but also in incurring of an additional expenditure of Rs 12.08 crore.''

Bureau Report