The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) may impose a termination charge of Re 0.05 per SMS on operators from whose networks commercial messages originate.
According to J.S. Sarma, chairman, TRAI, ?We are actively considering and are likely to issue a regulation by October 15 to impose a Re 0.05 termination charge on commercial SMSs, and not on general SMSs.?
Currently, a few operators charge a termination fee of up to Re 0.15 per SMS, based on mutual agreements, although it is not compulsory. The proposed TRAI directive would make it mandatory for all operators to charge the termination levy for commercial SMSs.
Meanwhile, TRAI has exempted select service providers, primarily the dealers of telecom operators, DTH operators, e-ticketing agencies and social networking sites, from the 100 SMS per day per SIM limit. Another category of providers who have been exempted includes agencies providing directory services.
