Foreign tourists often complain of difficulties in getting a pre-paid connection due to regulatory reasons or identification problems. In calling cards, the charges are exorbitantly high.

On the BSNL card, a user has to pay Rs 5,618 for an initial talk value of Rs 3,000 with a 30-day validity. The applicable pulse rate is 60 seconds and the charges are same as for India citizens, company officials said.

Local call charges are charged at 90 paise a minute for BSNL's GSM network and Rs 1.20 for non-BSNL network. For STD calls, charges will be Rs 2 per minute for BSNL's GSM and fixed line phones, while for others it is Rs 2.40.

For international calls, the charges are Rs 7.20 a minute for calls to the US, Canada, the UK, Sri Lanka. For calls to Europe (other than the UK), Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE, Oman and Qatar, the figure is Rs 9.60, while for the rest of the world, it is Rs 12.

Earlier, BSNL had reduced international roaming tariff for foreigners using its network in the country by up to 40 per cent, a relief for tourists who often complain of high telephone charges while on the move in India.

For foreigners visiting India, the tariff for outgoing local/STD call is slashed to about Rs 30 per minute from Rs 49, while an ISD call will cost Rs 70 per minute, against Rs 99 earlier. For an incoming call, a person has to pay Rs 50 per minute instead of earlier Rs 75 a minute.