Reliance Jio Infocomm, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries announced Jio has been compelled, most reluctantly and unavoidably, to recover the regulatory charge of 6 paise per minute for all off-net mobile voice calls so long as Interconnect Usage Charge (IUC) exist.
IUC charges are fixed by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and are currently at 6 paise per minute. IUC for mobile calls will be ZERO from 1 January 2020.
In the last three years, Jio has paid IUC from its own resources to Airtel and Vodafone-Idea etc. while offering free voice to its customers. So far, Jio has paid nearly Rs.13,500 crore as NET IUC charges to the other operators.
However now, due to regulatory compulsion, for all recharges done by Jio customers starting today, calls made to other mobile
operators will be charged at the prevailing IUC rate of 6 paise per minute through IUC
top-up vouchers till such time that TRAI moves to Zero termination charge regime.
Nevertheless, Jio stands firm on its commitment to offer the highest value to its customers,
and there is no 6 paise per minute charge on:
(a) all Jio to Jio calls;
(b) all incoming calls;
(c) Jio to landline calls; and
(d) calls made using WhatsApp or FaceTime and similar platforms.
Jio will provide additional data entitlement of equivalent value based on IUC top-up
voucher consumption. This will ensure no increase in tariff for customers.