The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released a consultation paper on the ?Review of Policy of Forbearance in Telecom Tariffs.?
At Re 0.01 per second, base tariffs for voice calls in India are the lowest in the world. However, for operators, the low-cost tariff model has become unsustainable as margins have been hit hard. The contribution of voice revenues to overall operator revenues has been continuously declining.
Therefore, over the past two years, operators have been hiking up their call tariffs.
In this context, TRAI is examining whether the existing regime of tariff forbearance requires to be reviewed or not.
As per the existing regulatory framework, tariff for all telecom services are under forbearance except for rural fixed line services, national roaming services and leased circuits. In addition, an appropriate tariff framework for data services is also required, especially since data usage is catching on very rapidly.
The issues put up by the regulator for consultation include:
- Whether the stakeholder feels that the current regulatory framework for determining telecom tariffs needs to be amended
- Whether TRAI should withdraw from the policy of forbearance
- If it should, how the tariff should be regulated.
- Whether tariff regulation would affect the introduction of innovative tariff plans
- The most appropriate method to manage the tariffs keeping the consumers? interests in mind
- Whether the current tariff for data services is competitive and reasonable
- The factors influencing competition in data services segment
- Appropriate measures TRAI can take to facilitate enhanced competition in the data services segment
- Whether TRAI should regulate the tariff for data services by fixing a ceiling to protect the interest of the consumers
