Trai proposal: Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea to clash over reduction in IUC rate

Expect another round of fight between incumbent operators Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio over termination charges.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Wednesday came out with a consultation paper to review the termination charges with the aim of making it zero (Bill and keep in technical parlance) from January 2020 as per a road map laid by it two years go. However, since the call imbalance (incoming vs outgoing) between the incumbents and Jio — though less than what was two years ago — still exists, incumbents are expected to oppose any move to make termination rates zero.

Termination charge is paid to the operator on whose network the call terminates by the originating network. Trai had last reduced it in September 2017 by a massive 57% to 6 paise per minute. Prior to it, the rate was 14 paise per minute. At that time, the Trai had said it proposes that from January 2020 operators move to a regime of zero rate.