NEW DELHI, INDIA: In a move that would bring down the call charges further, India's telecom watchdog on Monday reduced local termination charges, by 33 percent, to 20 paise.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) announced that termination charge for all types of domestic calls - landline to landline, landline to mobile, mobile to landline and mobile-to-mobile - had been reduced to 20 paise per minute from 30 paise per minute. Termination charges were paid by one operator to another on whose network the call ends.

The TRAI further added that it had hiked incoming termination charges by 33 percent to 40 paise per minute.

Termination charge for incoming international calls would be 40 paise per minute against the existing charge of 30 paise per minute. The authority expected that service providers would pass on this benefit in the form of lower tariff for outgoing international calls. The ceiling on carriage fee of domestic long distance calls had been retained at 65 paise per minute.

The TRAI also expected the non-reduction of this ceiling to encourage national long distance operators to expand into rural areas.

Source: India PR Wire