Close on the heels of announcing full mobile number portability and a reduction in inter-operator charges, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has now proposed a cut in national roaming and SMS charges.

On Friday, TRAI proposed a 35 per cent cut in roaming rates on outgoing calls and an 80 per cent reduction on outgoing messages. The regulator has sought comments from stakeholders by March 13, after which it will issue the final order.

The new rates

Under the latest draft amendment of the Telecommunication Tariff Order, TRAI proposes cutting down the maximum charges that can be imposed on outgoing local calls in roaming mode to 65 paise per minute, from the ceiling rate of ₹1 per minute.

It also proposed cutting STD call rates in roaming mode to ₹1 per minute, from the maximum of ₹1.5 per minute. For incoming calls, it has asked telecom companies to charge a maximum of 45 paise per minute instead of 75 paise now.

For SMS, it has proposed a maximum of 25 paise per STD SMS in roaming mode compared to the current ceiling of ₹1.50 per SMS. For local SMS, it has recommended a maximum of 20 paise compared with ₹1 now.

While telecom companies said that the TRAI move will impact revenues, the regulator reckons that the increase in usage will make up for any loss.

For example, when roaming tariffs were last reviewed in 2013, the regulator had lowered the charges by 29-57 per cent. At that time, the overall usage per roaming subscriber increased from 75 minutes per month in June 2013 to 83 minutes in September 2014. This increase in usage occurred mainly because of the reduction in the tariff.

The rationale

TRAI said that the existing average tariff levels for national roaming services are much higher than the average revenue realisations in the home service area. Meaning, operators are realising higher average revenue from roaming charges than from local calls.

“Therefore, there is a need for further lowering of ceiling tariffs for calls and SMS on national roaming,” it added.

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