Next time when you go to Central Railway Station at Chennai and don't find a public call facility, don't be surprised. The Central Telegraph Office operated by BSNL Chennai Telephones at the Central railway station has been shut down after the telecom operator’s request for a rental rebate was turned down by the Railway authorities.
So the Argument was whether the CTO was a public utility or a profit centre. Chennai Telephones officials had failed negotiation attemps with their Railway counterparts seeking a concession in rent and eventually lead into the CTO shut down.
“Maintaining the CTO on the rates proposed by the Railways was unviable and the only option was to shut shop,” a Chennai Telephones official said.