Mobile bills set to decrease as TRAI cuts call connection charge to 6 paise per minute

TRAI also said that no call termination charge will be applicable from January 1, 2020.

New Delhi: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Tuesday decided to cut interconnect usage charge (IUC) to 6 paise per minute from 14 paise currently, effective October 1.

The authority also said that no call termination charge will be applicable from January 1, 2020.

"On the basis of comments received from stakeholders, in writing or during the open house discussion or during the workshop, the Authority has prescribed revised domestic mobile termination charges through these regulations," Trai said in a statement.

Telecom operators levy IUC on incoming calls from other networks and the charges are passed on to subscribers.

The IUC is fixed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. At present, IUC of 14 paise is levied on call made from mobile phones.

The cut in the charge runs contrary to the demands made by established operators, including Bharti Airtel, which wanted the termination rate to be raised and benchmarked against the actual cost.

The latest entrant Reliance Jio, on the other hand, had been seeking waiving of the charge, saying it will benefit consumers.

In a presentation before Trai, Reliance Jio had earlier said that telecom operators gained to the tune of Rs 1 lakh crore from the IUC.