Indian mobile operators have petitioned the regulator to raise the termination rate of incoming international calls by at least a third.
Market leader Bharti Airtel and other cellcos have called on telecom regulator Trai to raise the termination rate to at least 0.60 rupees (€0.01) per minute from the current rate of 0.40, the Economic Times said.
The operators argue that the current rate is very low by international standards, while outgoing calls are charged with termination rates as high as 3-4 rupees a minute to some destinations.
“The termination charges levied by India on incoming international traffic are among the lowest in the world,” Bharti CEO Sanjay Kapoor told ET.
“This has not only resulted in a lost opportunity to earn greater foreign exchange, but has also resulted in subsidized calling costs for international subscribers, who on the whole have a much higher paying capacity.”
State-owned BSNL requested higher termination rates last year, claiming a fee of 3 rupees a minute would boost the industry’s revenues by up to $1 million.
Trai rejected the request but increased termination charges by a third to the current rate.
Indian operators carry roughly four times as many incoming international calls as outgoing calls.