The subscribers of Reliance Jio usually are the ones who get to enjoy the best benefits when it comes to data and calling. However, in November 2019 things took an ugly turn when Reliance Jio subscribers were charged with 6 paise per minute charge for making calls to subscribers of other telecom operators. This meant that the Reliance Jio customers making calls on their network would not have to pay anything extra whereas to make calls to other telecom networks, they would have to shell out 6 paise per minute. This was shocking for the customers of Jio as no other telecom operator had implemented such a regime. All of this was the result of the squabble between Reliance Jio and the other telecom companies and the network flow. While being the biggest telecom operator has its own perks and translates to massive revenue for Reliance Jio, it did not go well with the company when it came to paying other telecom operators for the outgoing calls. Here is why this charge might stay for another year.
IUC Extension For a Year
The subscribers of Reliance Jio will have to accept the fact that beyond their allowed quota of calls they will be charged 6 paise per minute. Now, when this charged was introduced, there were rumours that the IUC would be abolished by the new year. But, nothing like this has happened, and the subscribers will now have to pay the cost until the end of this year ultimately. But, there is an entire chronology of events behind this and why the subscribers are bearing the burden of IUC. Read ahead to find out how the dominos of events unfolded, leading to the extension of the IUC regime and why the 6 paise charge emerged in the first place.
Why Only Reliance Jio Subscribers?
The simple answer to the question of why only Jio subscribers are paying the IUC is because Jio is the largest operator in India. Actually, the IUC is a fee which is paid by one operator to another operator for carrying the call. For example, if a call is made from the Airtel network to Jio network, then Airtel will pay the IUC of 6 paise per minute to Jio for carrying the call. But the problem emerged when Reliance Jio became the biggest telecom company in India with most subscribers. As a result, a lot of outgoing calls started happening on the Jio network, and therefore Jio was now paying more IUC than it was receiving thus making a dent on its revenue.
Trai Postpones Shift to Zero IUC
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) which oversees all the regulations in the telecom industry had told the telecom companies that India is heading towards a zero-IUC regime meaning that the IUC would come down to zero and the telecom companies will not have to pay anything to each other. The shift to this zero IUC regime was supposed to happen by the end of the previous year. But, sadly, it did not happen.
Instead, Trai came out with a decision of deferring the shift to zero IUC regime. This meant that until next year the telecom companies would continue to pay 6 paise per minute to each other for IUC. Since in the case of Reliance Jio this charge is coming from the pockets of the consumers, the Jio subscribers would also continue to spend 6 paise per minute on outgoing calls until the year-end.
