Reliance Info takes price war further

The telecom price war saw Reliance Infocomm cut tariffs for its post-paid customers by up to 60 per cent, while Hutch brought call charges in Delhi at par with its other circles.

Tariffs for intra-circle calls to Reliance phones "" Reliance India Mobiles (RIM) and Reliance fixed wireless phones and terminals "" have been reduced to 40 paise a minute under the Joy 399 plan.

Earlier, subscribers had to pay Re 1 per minute for RIM to RIM calls. With the new tariff plans, Hutch post-paid subscribers in Delhi can make local calls to any mobile network at 99 paise a minute and long distance calls to any network at Rs 2.25 a minute.

They, however, will have to pay an additional Rs 25 each for availing the new local and long distance tariff packages.

In case of Reliance's Joy 149, tariffs for all calls to Reliance phones have been reduced to 99 paise. Customers also have the option to call any other mobile phone at 99 paise a minute on payment of an additional monthly rental of Rs 25.

"We have essentially tried to simplify our tariff plans," a Reliance Infocomm spokesperson said. Under the new plan Joy 499, launched by Reliance, a subscriber can make intra-circle calls to Reliance phones at 40 paise a minute.

The service provider will charge Re 1 a minute for all other calls, including domestic long distance calls across the country, a company release said.

The rental for the plan stands at Rs 499 a month. An additional Rs 50 is charged for mandatory plan charges and the caller line identification (CLI) facility, taking the minimum charges to Rs 549. Even for Joy 149 and Joy 399, Rs 50 a month have to be added to the rentals towards payments to mandatory plan charges and CLI.

International long distance calls for customers of Joy 399 and Joy 499 have been priced at Rs 12.99 a minute for calls to the US, Canada, Europe, the UK and South East Asia.

Reliance Infocomm had triggered off the cellular tariff war last month by first reducing tariffs for its pre-paid users by 60 per cent.

Last week, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd reduced its tariffs for local and long-distance calls by 60 per cent while GSM operators have also reduced tariffs by 33-60 per cent.