Jio to start charging for calls to 'rivals' amid ring time controversy

Reliance Jio will start charging its users 6 paise/minute for calls made to 'rival' networks, according to a company statement. The statement adds that will remain in place till the time telecom operators are required to pay rivals for mobile phone calls made by their users to other operators' network but users will be compensated with data.

Telecom operators have been at war over the contentious interconnect usage charges (IUC) and the issue came back on the regulator's radar later last month. Currently, an operator is required to pay 6 paise per minute as a mobile call termination charge, called IUC. The IUC was originally proposed to be made nil from January 1, 2020. But TRAI is now reviewing the timeline, as part of a separate consultation exercise.

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Airtel had accused Reliance Jio of "gaming" the system of paying for calls to rival network by arbitrarily shortening the ring time for outgoing calls from its network, and Jio had returned fire arguing that incumbents are charging high voice tariffs and manipulating the system to the detriment of their users.