Hutch slashes ISD, STD call rates

Hutch on Thursday announced reduction in ISD and STD call rates across all plans, both postpaid and prepaid.

The new effective rates for STD and ISD will be as follows:

1. New ISD rates are as given below:

Other country rates exclude some Special Countries and Immarsat/Iridium calls

2. STD rate dropped by 24 paise across all plans with tariffs of more than Rs 2.64.

In addition:

• The STD promotional packages that were offering reduced STD call rates of Rs 2.25 per minute at a monthly charge of Rs 25, will now offer STD call rate of Rs 2 per minute.
• STD rates dropped from Rs 2.99 to Rs 2.75 for both Double Value postpaid plans and Chalta Rahe lifetime validity prepaid plan.
• However, the standard Hutch to Hutch STD promotional offer of Re 1 per minute at a charge of Rs 25 per month will remain unchanged.

Speaking about the reduction in STD & ISD tariffs Naveen Chopra, Chief Marketing Officer, Hutchison Essar said, "We are pleased to offer a reduction in ISD and STD call rates across all plans, without any conditions, to our customers. We have reduced the STD tariff by 24 paise and ISD tariff by upto 53%, thereby allowing our customers to now make more ISD and STD calls at cheaper rates."

New plans for Re 1

Further to the STD at Re 1 tariff, Hutch on Thursday announced two new plans -- 'TalkHome 299' and 'TalkRoam 499' -- for its postpaid customers and recharge card 899 for its prepaid customers.

While the 'TalkHome 299' plan will allow postpaid customers of Hutch to make calls to any phone across India at Re 1 per minute, the 'TalkRoam 499' plan will also enable customers to make and receive calls while roaming on Hutch network at Re 1.

On both these plans local and national SMS is at Re 1 and local calls made from a Hutch number to another Hutch number will be charged at Re 1 per two minutes.

For its prepaid customers, Hutch has introduced 'Recharge Card 899' that will enable customers to make calls to any phone across India at Re 1 per minute. The 'Recharge Card 899' has a validity of one month and offers talk time of Rs 550.

While all local and STD calls and SMS will be charged at Re 1 per minute, standard rates will be applicable while roaming.

Speaking about the announcement, Naveen Chopra, chief marketing officer, Hutchison Essar Ltd, said: "Postpaid customers of Hutch can now benefit from uniform tariff plans to make local/STD calls and SMS within India at Re 1. We are also pleased to extend this benefit to our prepaid customers with Rs 899 recharge coupon with one month the validity."