Should zero mobile termination charge deadline be revised? TRAI seeks suggestion on Interconnect fee

New Delhi: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has floated a consultation paper seeking suggestions on whether there  a  need  to  revise  the  applicable  date for Bill  And  Keep  (BAK) regime – zero  mobile termination charge –set for January 1, 2020.

The TRAI has also asked about the parameters that should  be  adopted  to  decide  the  alternate  date. The deadlines to send comments and counter-comments is from October 18 to November 1, TRAI said.

It may be noted that the domestic call termination charges were further revised, through the Regulation of 2015 to 0.14 per minute for wireless to wireless calls and 0 paisa for calls involving wireline telephony at either end of communication.

Subsequently, the Telecommunication Interconnection Usage Charges (Thirteenth Amendment) Regulations, 2017 brought down wireless to wireless domestic call termination charge to 0.06 per minute, effective from October 2017 to December 31 2019.

It further prescribed Bill And Keep (BAK) regime i.e. zero termination charge, effective from January 1 /2020 for domestic call termination. Some stakeholders challenged the IUC Regulation of 2017 in the Bombay and the matter is currently sub-judice.

What are Interconnection usage charges?

Interconnection Usage Charges (IUC) are wholesale charges payable by a Telecom Service Provider (TSP)  to  another Telecom  Service  Provider (TSP) for origination, transiting, or termination  of the calls. The  IUC  mainly consists  of origination, termination, carriage, and transit  charges.