INCREASED VOICE CALL CHARGES MAY CONTINUE FOR NEXT 2 YEARS; DETAILS LISTED

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had recently announced the Interconnect Usage Charges (IUC) of 6 paise per minute which affected Reliance Jio Customers primarily. Other networks such as Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel revealed that they were paying the IUC charges themselves and not charging from the customers.

How IUC Works?

If a Reliance Jio customer makes a call to other networks- say Vodafone or Airtel, Reliance Jio need to pay an IUC charge of Rs 6 paise to Vodafone of Airtel. The charge is made for carrying out calls to other network calls.

IUC History

Earlier IUC cost was 14 paise per minute which was brought down by TRAI to 6 Paise two years back. Recently TRAI announced that the IUC cost would be brought down to 'Zero' by the end of 2019. But it looks like the elimination of IUC rate may take two more years.

The major reasons for the decision are said to be the burden of 2G operators and financial situation of the telecom industry.  The 2G operators have to pay heavily, and secondly, the financial situation of the industry is such that the 6 paise per minute cost cannot be done away with right now - wrote telecom talk in its report. 

Reliance Jio

Since the IUC cost has been seen as the major letdown for Reliance Jio, it is said that the Ambani-owned telecom company may see a downfall over the next 2 years. On the other side, Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel continue to get the benefits of IUC charge when Reliance Jio customers make calls to their networks.