Jio to charge 6 paise per minute for outgoing calls

With effect from next Jio recharge, after October 10, 2019, Reliance Jio users will be required to pay 6 paise per minute for every voice call made to a non-Jio customer. But in return of these additional charges, Jio customers will be offered
free 1GB of data for every 10-rupee paid. This comes as a major announcement since Jio users have availed free unlimited voice calling service since its launch in 2016. Now with this new regulatory update, Jio customers will have to pay 6 paise per minute for voice calls made to Vodafone-Idea, Airtel, BSNL and other telecom operators. 

Jio customers should note here that these charges are not applicable for voice calls made to Jio phones, landline phones or using WhatsApp and FaceTime. Also, incoming calls from all networks will be absolutely free like before and only outgoing calls to networks other than Jio will be payable.

But why has Jio made its free outgoing calling service to non-Jio customers payable? Well, for that you will first have to understand the term IUC. 

What is IUC?

IUC or Interconnect Usage Charge is the price paid by one mobile telecom operator to another when its customers make outgoing mobile calls to the other operator’s customers. These charges are fixed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) that are currently set at 6 paise/ minute.

All telecom operators pay IUC charges to other operators for outgoing calls and similarly, they receive the amount from other operators for incoming calls.

Why Jio users will have to pay 6 paise/ minute for non-Jio voice-calls

Now Jio will charge these IUC charges (6 paise/ minute) from its customers who make outgoing voice calls to other telecom operators (such as Airtel/Vodafone Idea/BSNL, etc). 

Jio customers enjoy free unlimited voice calling benefit but other telecom operators charge a high rate for calls and due to these hefty charges non-Jio customers have developed a habit of giving missed calls to Jio customers (to avoid paying the amount). By giving a missed call to Jio users, non-Jio users expect them to call back because they enjoy free voice calling. Jio network thus receives 25 to 30 crore missed calls daily.

And when Jio customers call these users back, instead of receiving 6 paise per minute (IUC) from other network operators as an IUC, Jio eventually has to pay the IUC for callbacks (outgoing) made by their users to other networks.

According to the company, Jio has already paid Rs 13,000 crore to other operators to date.

That's why Jio is compelled to ask 6 paise/ minute for every voice call made by a Jio user to a non-Jio customer. These charges will be asked from Jio customers only until the IUC charge is made zero by TRAI.

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