Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has asked the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for a massive hike in the international termination charges for voice calls. COAI is demanding the international call termination charges to be hiked to Rs 3.50 per minutes from the current 53 paise per minute. TRAI is currently in the process of reviewing these rates, paid by foreign telecom operators for terminating international calls in India.
“Today, there is a 20:1 imbalance between incoming and outgoing international calls. In order to adjust the imbalance, you need to go to Rs 3.50 on a weighted average basis, to correct the arbitrage,” said Rajan Mathews, COAI Director General.
COAI wants to bridge the gap between blended termination rate paid by Indian operators for outgoing international calls and the termination rates received by them on international incoming calls.
Currently, Indian telecom operators are paying around Rs 3.50 per minutes on termination charges for outgoing international calls. Whereas, they are only receiving 53 paise per minutes termination rates from foreign operators.
“we are saying that our operators are at a disadvantage because we end up paying precious foreign exchange out… the problem with international is that (Indian) regulator has no control on the other side (for outgoing call termination charges) so other side is free to charge whatever they want,” he further added.
TRAI has yet to finalise on the international call termination charges. If the decision favours Indian telecom operator, it would definitely help to lessen their financial stress.