Trai cuts ISD incoming call termination rate

Telecom regulator Trai on Friday slashed international incoming call termination rate to 30 paise, from 53 paise, to curb the “grey route”. The new rate will be effective from Feb 1.

The international termination rate is a charge paid by international operators to local telecom networks that receive calls.

“The Authority has reduced the termination charges payable by an International Long Distance Operator (ILDO) to the access provider in whose network the call terminates from Rs 0.53 per minute to Rs 0.30 per minute,” Trai said in a statement.

The move is expected to hit hard the top three telecom players — Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular —  who are estimated to together generate revenues of about Rs 5,000 crore from incoming international calls.

This is the second blow after Trai reduced domestic termination charges from 14 to 6 paisa in October last year.