New Delhi, May 15: Close on the heels of announcing its decision to review the interconnect usage charges (IUC) regime, which was introduced on May 1, Trai today released a consultation paper on the IUC regime covering key issues like telecom tariffs and calling party pays regime. "The consultation paper has brought various issues as pointed out by the various stakeholders for public consultation. These issues may be grouped into four main categories - IUC, the access deficit charges (ADC), tariffs and CPP," a Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) statement said here. Trai has sought comments from various stakeholders by June 6, a Trai official said, adding that following this there would be consultations and meetings and the regulator would then finalise its views on the issue.
"Trai issued consultation paper to review the IUC regime and certain principles for tariff packages in view of the several representations received from telecom service providers and other stakeholders with respect to both IUC and the tariff regime," the statement said. The questions raised in the paper include "whether the IUC regime needs any improvement and streamlining, whether tariff forbearance for WLL and cellular services should continue and whether the fixed line tariffs should continue to be regulated," it pointed out.
Another question raised is whether the ADC should be calculated on current costs as at present or should forward looking long run incremental cost method be used for its calculation like in several other countries, to eliminate any possibility of regulatory advantage to any service provider. Bureau Report