Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction in Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL): An Empirical Study in the Post-Policy-Change Era

Abstract

The Indian telecommunication industry experienced major transformations in terms of its structure, technology, regulations and policies in the time period from 2020 to 2024. The nature of competition in the industry, tariff systems, network processes, customer service processes and the expectations of customers were changed by the industry changes. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), being an important public telecom company, saw its own developments because that was not only affected by its operations in competitive markets, but also by the government-driven revival strategies, local technology innovations, rural communication commitment and network processes. This research dealt with the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction in BSNL, which paid particular attention to the impact of changes in policies and management systems. A descriptive and analytical research design was applied in the research. The article explains the methodology through presenting a model for BSNL customers which is based on the application of a questionnaire. The models for BSNL customers uses statistical analysis, reliability measure, correlation, analysis of variance, and multiple regression. The aim of the model is to contribute to establishing a connection between improvement of service quality and customer satisfaction. The research also evaluated the perceived implications of policy changes, especially regarding modernization and the switch to indigenous 4G technology. The secondary data show that BSNL's modernization process sped up in 2023-2024 and that by October 2024 more than 50000 indigenous 4G sites were established in the country with more than 41,000 sites operational, while the Government was expected to deploy about 1,00,000 sites overall. The study shows that while policy interventions facilitate a stronger capacity for service delivery, policy support does not guarantee customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction is dependent upon whether the investments made due to policy become evident to customers in terms of reliable connections, incessant data service, attentive customer service, simple billing, efficient complaint handling and persistent service delivery.