Cell cos oppose levy on roaming

Protesting against imposition of levy on roaming calls to be paid to state owned BSNL as announced by TRAI, cellular operators have challenged the order in TDSAT saying "the order is arbitrary and anti-consumer."

"In any case we are trying to bring down the roaming charges... but imposing levy on roaming charges in this manner is absolutely non-transparent action of the

regulator and it is against the principles of natural justice," T V Ramachandran, director general, Cellular Operators Association of India said.

Moreover, TRAI has taken the decision without consulting the service providers, he said adding that the matter is not all connected with the overall access deficit charge. The case has been posted for hearing on May 11, Ramachandran said.

TRAI had on April 11 issued an order that all calls from national roaming subscribers will be treated as STD calls while that of global roaming users will be accounted as incoming international calls for access deficit charge calculation purpose.

For international roaming subscribers, an ADC of Rs 3.25 per minute shall be applicable while making any call while in India.

For all calls from roaming subscriber, the access deficit amount is to be collected by the visited network operator and paid to BSNL, TRAI had said.