Telecom tariff to fall from April 1
Telecom tariffs are set to fall from April 1 this year, as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is likely to reduce the access deficit charge (ADC) levy to around Rs 1,600-2,000 crore for 2007-08, from the current Rs 3,335 crore.
NEW DELHI: Telecom tariffs are set to fall from April 1 this year, as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is likely to reduce the access deficit charge (ADC) levy to around Rs 1,600-2,000 crore for 2007-08, from the current Rs 3,335 crore.
More importantly, Trai, when announcing the new regime in March, will also state that the next fiscal (2007-08) will be the last year when subscribers would be subject to this levy. Simply put, this implies, there will be no ADC levies from April 1, 2008.
The new ADC regime will be effective from April 1, the exact quantum of the reduction will be finalised only after consultations between the operators, and the regulator, which is slated to take place over the next two months, Trai sources told ET.
Following the consultation process, the regulator will announce the details of the new ADC regime for 2007-08 in March, the sources added. In the past, all ADC cuts by Trai have resulted in reductions in domestic (STD) tariffs and also in both incoming and outgoing international calls, as operators have passed on the benefits to the subscribers.
Any move to reduce ADC further, however, will be strongly opposed by BSNL. ADC is the levy paid by all telecom operators to BSNL and this allows the PSU to subsidise its rural operations and fulfil its social obligations. At present, all operators pay 1.5% of their annual aggregate gross revenues (AGR) to BSNL as ADC. In addition to this, BSNL also earns an ADC of Rs 1.60 per minute for all incoming international calls to India and Rs 0.80 per minute for every outgoing ISD call.
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Last year, Trai had fixed the ADC at Rs 3,335 crore for 2006-07, from Rs 5,340 crore the previous year, and the move enabled all operators, including BSNL, to reduce long-distance tariffs and implement OneIndia call rates that is STD at Re 1. At the same time, Trai had also done away with the per minute ADC for domestic calls and instead stipulated that operators pay 1.5% of their AGR towards this levy. Commenting on logic behind the abolition of the ADC regime from 2008-09, a Trai official said, ���This is as per the Trai roadmap. If BSNL needs subsidy from April 2008, it will only be from the universal service obligation fund. The ADC regime cannot continue in perpetuity.��� All operators pay 5% of their AGR towards the USO fund, which is used to support rural telephony.
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