Starting next month, mobile calls while in roaming will be cheaper by up to 23 %, while sending a local SMS will cost only Rs. 0.25, a steep cut of 75 % from the present Rs. 1, as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has slashed tariff ceilings.
Trai has cut the maximum or ceiling rate that a telecom operator can charge for STD calls on roaming to Rs. 1.15 /minute from Rs. 1.5. Similarly, national SMS rate has been reduced to Rs. 0.38 from Rs. 1.5 per SMS. Also, an operator can charge a maximum of Rs. 0.25 only for a local SMS instead of the current Rs. 1 / SMS. For incoming calls during roaming, a mobile customer will be required to pay a maximum of Rs. 0.45 only per minute instead of Rs. 0.75 now.
Trai said in a statement on Thursday.
Trai has reduced ceiling tariffs for national roaming calls and SMS and has mandated telecom service providers to offer a special roaming tariff plan. These changes will come into effect from May 1, 2015
National roaming service is the facility provided to a subscriber to avail services subscribed in its home network, while travelling outside the geographical coverage area of the home network, by means of using a visited network. As per the existing framework for telecom access services, the country has been divided into 22 licensed service areas. Tariff for national roaming services were last revised in 2013.
