Cell firms to hike roaming charges

Cellular phone operators are set to raise roaming tariffs, which would result in higher monthly bills for mobile users.

While Bharti has decided to impose a monthly rental of Rs 49 a month, Hutch has raised the rate from Rs 20 per month to Rs 49 a month with effect from Tuesday.

Hutch also announced a 20-40 per cent increase in tariff for both incoming and outgoing calls, under various slabs, for its subscribers roaming nationally.

Bharti and Idea will also be coming out with revised tariff plans shortly, according to company executives.

A Bharti executive said, "We may revise roaming tariff under certain slabs. In other slabs it will remain as before."

State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), however, has no plans to increase these tariffs, according to a senior executives.

"The tariff charged for roaming was very low, which needed to be increased," a Hutch spokesperson said.

The spokespersons for both Hutch and Bharti said that their respective companies had reduced rentals last December as promotional offers and that the rates had now been revised.