NEW DELHI, NOV 9: The long-distance telephone caller will be paying less sooner or later, if the views of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on rationalisation of telecom tariff are any indication.The concept of pricing of domestic and international calls is likely to undergo major changes because of induction of latest technology which uses volume of traffic as the yardstick for such pricing, TRAI has said in a consultation paper seeking public views on a new telecom tariff policy.Currently distance is the determining factor for pricing of long distance calls.The induction of new technology has nearly trebled India's telephone network from a mere five million lines in 1990-91 to 14.43 million in 1996-97. TRAI estimates further doubling of this capacity during the next decade totally transforming the network in India.TRAI has cited the case of Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries to show how volume-based pricing had more than halved the costs during the last six years. India's tariff structure shows a sharp rise in tariffs as distance increases, with the highest rate for national long-distance calls being 90 times the lowest rates. Moreover there are escalating tariffs, i.e. higher the number of calls made by the user higher is the tariff. There is also a significant difference between peak and non peak time usage.TRAI's views are contained in a consultation paper released last week to initiate a public debate on restructuring of telecom tariff.The paper which deals with concepts, principles and methodologies to govern telecom tariffs says that charging higher rates for calls exceeding certain billing limit discouraged subscribers from making more calls. The tariff structure, according to the report, would involve another important policy decision on continuance of free calls.The other aspect that needed consideration was whether incentives should be provided to the user through volume discounts encouraging him to use the phone often.There was also a need to change the basis of timing the duration of a call beyond the set flat rate for the purpose of charging that call. According to the paper any proposal for change in concessional charges will have an effect on tariffs fixed for encouraging phone use during non-peak hours. Peak time is 0800 hrs to 1900 hrs.
