Reliance Jio says all voice calls free from Jan 1 as ICU charges go

Company also announces new data plans offering 1-2 GB data at lower prices than competition

Reliance Jio subscribers will not have to be pay for voice calls on any network from January 1 with the discontinuation of interconnect usage charges (IUC), the telecom service provider announced on Thursday.

While a call from a Jio phone to another is free, the telecom company last year began charging customers a top-up fee for additional talk time above the free limit. This will end now, an executive said. Airtel and Vodafone Idea offer 4G customers bundled plans with unlimited calls. They charge customers using 2G service for voice calls. 

A telecom company pays 6 paise per minute for calls made from its network to different service providers.

Last December the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had deferred the implementation of zero IUC charges to January 1, 2021.

While there will be a decline in average revenue per user (ARPU) of telecom companies, it would be offset by savings because no payment would be required to be made to rival companies. Thus, there would no significant impact on profitability. A company is a net gainer if it has a higher proportion of incoming calls from other networks.

An analyst said the impact of discontinuation would be neutral for Airtel. Vodafone Idea has been a net recipient of IUC and a decline in its subscriber base over the last 12 months would have impacted the figure. Both Airtel and Jio have added customers during the period.

“(In accordance with the) directions of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (“TRAI”), Bill and Keep regime is being implemented in the country from January 1, 2021, thereby ending interconnect usage charges (IUC) for all domestic voice calls. Honouring its commitment to revert off-network domestic voice-call charges to zero, as soon as IUC charges are abolished, Jio will once again make all off-net (Jio to non Jio) domestic voice calls free, starting January 1, 2021. On-net domestic voice calls have always been free on the Jio network,” the telecom service provider said in a statement.

A Vodafone Idea spokesperson said: “For all Vi Unlimited pack users, domestic calls to other networks anywhere in India, has always been free and will continue to be free 1st Jan 2021 onwards as well.”