6 p/min on calls to other network to stay:Trai

                       6 p/min on calls to other networks to stay: Trai

 
                                 Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (Trai’s) announced on Tuesday that for every outgoing calls made to their competitor’s network will continue to pay 6 paise per minute till December 31, 2020. These charges will proposed to become zero from January 1, 2021. The Telecom industry body Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) sees this as a relief for the debt-ridden sectors. They expect that continuing with 6 paise mobile call charges will not have any impact on consumers because operators have already put this rates recently on mobile calls and data. For wireless to wireless domestic calls, termination charge would continue to remain as 6 paise only.
 
                         The rate was reduced to 6 paise from October 1, 2017 and it will become nil from January 1, 2020. The regulator added that the termination charges from wireless to wireless call shall be zero from January 1, 2021. According to the estimate the industrial players lost 11000 crore  when the charges for mobile calls was reduced to 6 paise from 14 paise. The removal of mobile call termination charges from January 1, 2020 would have impacted the sector by approximately 3672 crore.  Trai said that to ensure sustainable and orderly growth of telecom sector, the date for implementation of BAK (bill and keep-where no operators bill to competitor for IUC) be deferred by 12 months to make it applicable from January 1, 2021.    Levy of mobile call termination implies operator providing free call will have 6 paise burden for every outgoing call made outside the network and it requires provision within mobile call plans to recover these charges.
The incumbent operators have requested longer period because IUC (interconnection usage charges) is held for about 3 years. This extension has lends some sense of predictability, stability and transparency for the investors. COAI Director General Rajan S Mathew said that “It is definitely a move in the right direction”.