TRAI examining SMS interconnect charges

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Telecom regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is examining SMS interconnect usage charges (IUC) and will proceed further after going through the responses that it has got from stakeholders.

“We have asked for details from some people. Some responses have come. We are examining them,” said J S Sarma, chairman, TRAI in response to a question by CIOL on the sidelines of an event organized by Communications and Manufacturing Association of India (CMAI) here.

Some of the mobile operators have recently imposed interconnect usage charges (IUC) on the SMSes which are terminated on their network. This charge varies between 10 paise to 15 paise per SMS.

There is a mandate from RBI and SEBI for banks and some firms to send SMS alert to their customers in case of financial transactions. Till now there had been no action from banks or any other firms to make it a binding obligation to provide SMS alerts to customers. So, it is likely that the IUC might be passed on to customers' head.

Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) is known to have written to TRAI in this regard. It has proposed that there should be no SMS IUC at all, and if there is, then the tariff proposed is commensurate with the costs involved in the termination of cross network SMSes.

Some of those who have welcomed IUC have also called that the charges are very steep and should be brought down to reasonable level.

“I don’t see anything wrong in imposing IUC. It is good for serious players in the industry and will discourage those who send spam SMS to customers but the amount being charged is too high for pocket of an enterprise and serious players in the market,” said Kumar Apoorv, COO, ValueFirst.

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