No proposal to end STD charges for mobile subscribers: Telecom Minister

NEW DELHI: India's telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that there is no proposal to abolish STD charges for mobile subscribers as of now.

“At present there is no proposal under consideration to abolish STD charges for mobile subscribers as STD charges are under forbearance,” he informed to the Lok Sabha members.

The impact of free national roaming on the revenues of service providers would depend on assumption of price elasticity, breakup of incoming and outgoing calls, termination and carriage charges,” he added.

State-owned harat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) has launched free incoming voice call facility and after nine years,  the company has reported its operating profit of Rs 672 crore for the financial year 2015.

All 'wireless access service providers' have at least one tariff plan in which the incoming calls while roaming are free.

“The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had estimated total impact on annual revenue on wireless access service providers at Rs 1627 crore,” he said.