TRAI reduced roaming charges by up to 56 per cent on Wednesday. The new charges will be effective from February 15.
NEW DELHI: Next time you are out of town, you may not have to think twice before receiving or making a call on your mobile phone. National roaming tariffs have been slashed by 22-56%. According to a tariff order from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), the new regime would come into effect from February 15.
While on roaming, the outgoing local call rate has been slashed 55% to Rs 1.40 per minute, from Rs 3.09 earlier. For outgoing national long distance (NLD) calls, irrespective of any distance, the tariff will be Rs 2.40 per minute while roaming.
Earlier, the NLD tariff while roaming varied from Rs 3.09 to Rs 3.99 per minute, depending on the distance slab.
For incoming calls, tariff has been slashed to Rs 1.75 per minute, irrespective of the distance covered. Till now, roaming tariff on incoming calls varied from Rs 3.09 to Rs 3.99 per minute, based on the distance covered.
Receiving SMS will be free while roaming, says Trai. And cellphone companies won’t charge any rental for roaming.
But with the cellular industry up in arms against the order, a legal tussle cannot be ruled out. Industry representatives say Trai’s tariff powers are statutory and the only way that can be challenged is by approaching the Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT). They do not rule out the possibility of moving TDSAT.
The Trai order follows a prolonged consultation with the industry. Communications minister Dayanidhi Maran has expressed happiness over the new regime of lower roaming tariffs.
But both industry bodies, representing GSM and CDMA operators, have protested against the move, saying that it would hurt the cell companies’ bottomline.
The tariff reduction order is applicable for all mobile phone customers, prepaid as well as post-paid. It will be valid for all tariff plans offered by the service providers.
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