The telecom giant Reliance Jio has surprisingly announced that he is going to charge customers for imposing the IUC on all the outgoing calls to the other network. The Interconnect Usage Charge set by TRAI is 6 paise per minute. Jio is going to pass this expense to its customers. The Reliance Jio has come up with few IUC plans for its customers. This new Jio regulation has been implemented from Wednesday, 9th October.
What is IUC?
IUC stands for Interconnect Usage Charge is the amount that a telecom operator has to pay to the other telecom operator if a customer makes an outgoing call to a customer of the other telecom operator. The TRAI is the one who decides the IUC charge. Currently, all operators have to pay 6 paise per minute.
Jio 6 Paise per minute plan-Here’s a simple explanation
If you own a Jio number and you call someone using an Airtel or Vodafone-Idea number, you will be charged 6 paise per minute till the time you keep ringing. All the calls will still be free to all other operator but you will have to pay 6 paise per minute till the time you ringing the other person. However, if you are making a call to a Jio number or a landline number, then you don’t have to pay anything. Also, all incoming calls, as well as WhatsApp calls, will stay unaffected from this. The IUC charge will also be applicable to postpaid users and it will be added to their billing cycle.
New Jio IUC plans-Jio 6 Paise per minute plan
The Reliance Jio is offering four new IUC plans with extra data benefits. The plans are as follows with its benefits-
Why is Jio doing this?
The Reliance Jio has been paying the IUC charge for every call made to the other network from its pocket and it is bearing the loss. Jio wants the TRAI to remove the IUC charges which is not going to happen by early 2020. Jio offers free calls while the other operators charge their customers for this. Jio is bearing a huge loss. This is why Jio is doing this.
When will the IUC charges end?
The Reliance Jio has assured its 35 crore customers that the Jio 6 Paise per minute plan will continue till the time TRAI abolishes the IUC. Source- indiatoday
