Posted by Mumbai: Jio has announced voice calling free to any network in India from Jan 1, 2021, according to a statement from the parent company Reliance Industries Ltd.
Jio’s decision comes after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had issued a directive in September 2019.
As per the directive, the Bill and Keep regime would come into effect from Jan 1, 2021. And it will end interconnect usage charges (IUC) for all domestic voice calls.
With the ending of IUC for all domestic voice calls, Jio said there are no charges on all off-net domestic voice calls free, starting Jan 1, 2021. And for the on-net domestic voice calls, the company said they are free always on Jio network.
TRAI has extended the implementation of the Bill & Keep regime till Jan 1, 2020. Because of delay in implementation, Jio said it had to levy charges on off-net voice calls for its customers as per the applicable IUC norm.
“For context, in September 2019, when TRAI extended the timeline for implementation of the Bill & Keep regime beyond Jan 1 2020, Jio was left with no option but to start charging its customers for off-net voice calls, at a rate exactly equivalent to the applicable IUC charge,” informed Reliance Jio Infocomm.
However, the company said it had assured its users that there will no ICU chargers once it is IUC is abolished, making domestic voice calling free