Telecom tariffs are set to fall further as communications and IT minister A Raja wants to review the existing charges across services. Sources said Raja would ask the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India to undertake the review shortly. The comprehensive review would include local, ISD, STD, roaming and SMS charges, they added.
The move will definitely be resisted by operators as Trai has provided for forbearance with regard to tariffs on the ground that the market has matured and needs soft regulation. Operators do not need regulatory clearance for announcing tariff packages. They just need to inform the regulator within a week of implementing them.
Operators had protested when Trai had cut domestic roaming tariffs by about 56% earlier this year, stating the industry would lose Rs 800-900 crore a year due to the measure.
The move to comprehensively review tariffs is seen as the department of telecommunication?s and Trai?s unhappiness with operators that did not cut domestic long-distance tariffs even when the regulator had reduced the access deficit charge paid by private operators to state-run BSNL by half to 0.75% of their adjusted gross revenue in the current financial year.
Operators had maintained that tariffs in the country were lowest globally and that, there should be no move to micro-manage the industry.
The sources said, while local call tariffs were quite low and might not be tinkered with, roaming rates might come up for further review. Even charges for international SMSes may be lowered as the minister feels that the current average of Rs 3-5 a message is on the higher side.