BSNL and MTNL were forced to reduce their tariffs due to intense market competition and this led to their revenues declining, parliament was informed Monday.

The decline was followed by a reduction in the fixed line subscribers and a fall in the average revenue per user (ARPU), Minister of State for Communications and IT Sachin Pilot said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

BSNL's revenue in the first six months of fiscal 2010-11 till September 30 was Rs.138 billion against Rs.328 billion during the entire 2007-08 fiscal.

At the same time, the revenue collected by MTNL declined from Rs.41 billion during 2007-08 to Rs.18 billion in the first six months of the current fiscal.

Pilot said that BSNL has restructured its organisation and strengthened its marketing, sales and distribution channels to increase its revenue collection. The company is also making efforts to improve customer care department.