Reliance Jio has decided to start charging an amount of six paise a minute to the subscribers making calls to other mobile networks.
This new change is brought specifically for voice calls being made to other operators, while there is a relief to all Jio-to-Jio calls, incoming calls, and Jio-to-landline calls and it will remain to be available at no additional charge.
The Mumbai-based operator claimed that the new voice charge would be at the prevailing Interconnect Usage Charge (IUC) rate that has been fixed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for telcos enabling inter-networking outgoing calls, which are also known as off-net voice calls.
Reliance Jio voice call charges for (Non-Jio networks)
In order to charge off-net voice calls, Reliance Jio has brought four IUC top-up vouchers ranging between Rs. 10 and Rs. 100. The operator said that it will provide additional data entitlement of equivalent value based on the IUC top-up voucher consumption to ensure no increase in tariff for customers. Postpaid Jio customers will also be billed at six paise per minute for off-net outgoing calls with an increase in free data entitlement to the extent provided in the vouchers.
| IUC Top-Up Voucher Amount (Rs.) | IUC Minutes (Non-Jio networks) | Free Data Entitlement (GB) |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | 124 | 1 |
| 20 | 249 | 2 |
| 50 | 656 | 5 |
| 100 | 1,362 | 10 |
Reliance Jio said that it has been forced to impose the outgoing call charge to the IUC that operators need to pay for enabling off-net voice calls on their networks.
The Reliance operator also claimed that in the last three years due to bearing IUC from its own resources, it had paid nearly Rs. 13,500, while after the regulator in 2017 amended the IUC charge, other telcos continued to charge “exorbitant tariffs” and increased the tariffs for voice calls to around Rs. 1.50 per minute.
Reliance Jio assured that the six paise per minute charge on outgoing off-net calls should continue only till the time TRAI abolishes IUC completely.
Notably, the regulator, as per its last amendment in 2017, is set to implement a zero termination charge regime on January 1, 2020. If no changes to this policy are made, post this date, there will be no voice call charges levied by Reliance Jio.
Reliance Jio said in the statement:
“The temporary IUC charge will come to an end by 31st December 2019 and consumers will not have to pay this charge thereafter.”