Telecom companies now have to offer their users a separate option of voice + SMS packs. Because many users use the phone only for calling. But they have to recharge for calling+SMS with existing data pack, which is very expensive.
Many users use two SIMs, one for calling and one for internet, but they have to recharge for both. In such a situation, the government is preparing to bring new guidelines for this. About 30 crore users of the country can directly benefit from it. CNBC has given this information citing sources.
Jio-Airtel-VI has made recharges 25% more expensive
The country's three major telecom companies – Vodafone-Idea, Jio and Airtel – have hiked recharge prices by 25% from July 3 and 4 this year. After Jio's Rs 239 plan went down to Rs 299 and Airtel's highest economy recharge plan from Rs 179 to Rs 199, demand for data-free packs started to rise.
Telecom companies have been fined for failing to stop spam calls
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India i.e. TRAI has fined Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea (VI) and BSNL for failing to stop spam calls and messages. This information has been given in the report of Economic Times.
Apart from the four big companies, TRAI has also imposed fines on several smaller telecom operators. TRAI has imposed this penalty on all companies under the Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR). In the latest round, TRAI imposed a total penalty of ₹12 crore on all the companies.
Total penalty on telecom companies is ₹141 crore
Including earlier fines, the total penalty on telecom companies is ₹141 crore. However, the companies have not yet paid this amount. TRAI has requested the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to collect the money by encashing the bank guarantees of the companies, but the DoT's decision on this is still pending.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
