The 163-year-old service of telegram will come to an abrupt end on July 15th, the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) confirmed on Wednesday.

R. K. Upadhyay, chairman & managing director of state-owned telecommunications giant, said that the telegram service was no more relevant as new technologies like mobile phones and emails had become ubiquitous.

Speaking on the topic, Mr. Upadhyay said, "The service is no more relevant because of new technologies. It was a loss-making business for us."

He added that there were merely 75 officers who were involved in the telegraph services department, and all of these employees would be re-absorbed in other communication services, such as mobile services, landline telephony & broadband services.

The telegram department has been reporting huge losses for the past many years. In May 2011, the government tried to decrease the losses by telegram charges from Rs 3.50 to Rs 27.50. It was the first revision in telegram charges in six decades.

The first telegraph service in India was started in the year 1850 by the East India Company to connect Calcutta (Kolkata) and Diamond Harbour.