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Mobile bills for some users could go up in the next few months as telecom operators withdraw special tariff plans to comply with the telecom regulator’s decision disallowing differential pricing for specific websites or content.
Most mobile operators already have special data packs that allow access to popular social networking sites and messaging applications such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter at a discounted rate.
Idea Cellular, for example, has special internet packs that allow 200 MB exclusively for Facebook access for ₹40 a month.
Airtel, similarly, has a tariff plan that offers 15 MB of Facebook access for ₹5. Such plans will have to be withdrawn, according to TRAI.
“It’s not just Airtel Zero or Facebook Free Basics that have been disallowed; even existing tariff plans that offer access to specific websites or content at special rates will have to be discontinued,” said a senior TRAI official.
According to one industry estimate, there are 30-40 such tariff plans in the market, which will have to be withdrawn to comply with the new TRAI regulation.
6-month leeway “We are reviewing the TRAI order to understand its scope and scale. Operators have six months to make existing tariff packs compliant with the new regulation,” said Rajan Mathews, Director General, Cellular Operators Association of India. Some operators are already taking action. Idea Cellular, for example, has put on hold its plans to launch a games club in partnership with mobile browsing platform Opera in the wake of the TRAI order.
“Idea Cellular will withdraw all its special internet packs with immediate effect, either by tonight or tomorrow morning,” a company spokesperson said.
RCom and Airtel declined to comment.
Immediate impact The immediate impact of this will be felt by customers who signed on for these special packs.
They will now have to spend more if they want to access Facebook or WhatsApp.
“A typical WhatsApp video is 10-12 MB, and almost everyone who gets a WhatsApp video views it immediately.
“Watch 10 videos a day and you are down 100 MB. Do the same on Facebook, you are down another 100 MB. Add Twitter, Instagram, e-mails. Your 1 GB pack will run out in under five days,” said an operator on condition of anonymity.
On Monday, the telecom regulator said that tariff for data services cannot vary on the basis of the type of content being accessed by users.
“Anything on the internet cannot be differentiated (in price) on the basis of source, destination, content or application. No service provider shall offer or charge discriminatory tariffs for data services on the basis of content,” TRAI had said.
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