Roaming charges cheaper from July1

Come July 1, roaming charges are set to fall steeply, as Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has reduced the tariff for roaming and SMSes. TRAI has slashed ceilings for national roaming calls and SMS and instituted a new regime for providing flexibility to telecom service providers to customise tariffs for national roamers.

Outgoing local call charges while on roaming will be capped at Re 1 per minute and Re 1.40 and outgoing STD charges on national roaming have been capped at Re 1.50 from Rs 2.40 per minute earlier. Tariff on incoming calls on national roaming has been reduced from Re 1.75 per to paise 0.75 per minute. Outgoing local SMSes will cost Re 1, while outgoing STD SMS will cost Re 1.50 from July 1. Incoming SMS will remain free of charge. The Telecom Regulator insisted that with increased subscribers and usage, the costs associated with national roaming have declined, but not vanished. There are still real costs incurred in providing the national roaming facility.

The Telecom Regulator feels that the best way forward is to establish a tariff regime in which roamers self-select themselves out and so minimize the impact on the rest of the subscriber community. TRAI mandated the service providers to offer special plans for roaming subscribers in which such subscribers can avail of partially free roaming, or fully free roaming in lieu of payment of fixed charges. In fact, TRAI has also mandated two types of free national roaming plans to be provided by all telecom service providers.

Venkat Parsa