Mukesh Ambani-led Jio announces free domestic voice calls from January 1

• Jio has announced that off-net domestic calls will be free for its users from January 1.
• The company had started charging 6 paise per minute from users in October 2019.
• The interconnect usage charges (IUC) have been eliminated as part of the Bill and Keep regime.

Telecom operator Reliance Jio has announced that starting from tomorrow, off-net domestic voice calls will be free for all its users. This comes after the interconnect usage charges (IUC) have been eliminated by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) as part of the Bill and Keep regime from January 1, 2021.

"Honouring its commitment to revert off-net domestic voice-call charges to zero, as soon as IUC charges are abolished, Jio will once again make all off-net domestic voice calls free, starting 1st January 2021," Reliance Jio said in a statement.

Reliance Jio began charging 6 paise per minute for off-net calls to its customers from October 2019 after TRAI extended the timeline for implementation of IUC regime in September 2019 to January 1, 2021.

While implementing the IUC charges, the company had assured customers that the company will impose this charge only till TRAI abolishes IUC completely.

"Jio stands firm on its commitment to make the common Indian the beneficiary of advanced technologies like VoLTE," the company added.

Reliance Jio is expected to slightly modify its plans in the coming days in accordance with the removal of its IUC charges.

Reliance Jio may also lose out on the revenue from IUC as it has the largest subscriber base and the majority of the calls originate from its network. Telcos like Airtel and Vi that have a smaller subscriber base when compared to Jio will likely gain from this.

SEE ALSO:

Mukesh Ambani says Jio will rollout 5G services by June 2021 – and it will go beyond India

India to issue a list of ‘trusted’ telecom vendors from where Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and others can procure equipment

Airtel records 3.8 million new subscribers in September – more than twice that of Reliance Jio’s additions