Trai okays differential tariffs

Trai said its decision was also spurred by ‘‘intense competition’’ in mobile services since the unified licencing policy. This freedom to charge different rates for calls that end in the same network, said Trai’s directive, has a safeguard to protect smaller operators. Big operators may not use the facility to charge a smaller, dependent network’s subscribers at higher rates, it added. This phenomenon, known as ‘Virtual Price Squeeze’, remained prohibited, Trai said, as per its earlier directives.

None of the networks will be allowed to offer different tariffs to users from the ‘‘same class’’.

For consumers, Trai’s latest order means paying one price for calling within their network and another when calling outside it. For operators, the order means greater flexibility and lower airtime rates for their own customers.