New Delhi: Telecom regulator TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) on March 28 ruled out rethinking on revised basic telecom tariffs announced on January 24 saying the move to "reschedule" the implementation by a month was done so that consumers could be properly informed about the alternate tariff plans.

"There is no other reason than this. There is no rethinking on Telecom Tariff Order of January 24 as well Interconnect User Charge (IUC) regime. The implementation date was rescheduled to May 1 keeping in mind interest of consumers and industry," D P S Seth, member (services) of TRAI told reporters in New Delhi.

The decision to put off implementation of revised tariffs would have two implications, one that cellular consumers would not be able to avail free incoming calls for another month, while basic telephone consumers would get more time before the revised rental and call charges come into effect.

"We have received various alternate tariff plans from five different operators both from PSUs (Public Sector Undertakings) and private sector. One operator has come up with 16 alternate packages. We need time to examine them to ensure that all plans are IUC compliant and non-discriminatory," Seth said.

The operators have been given time till April 3 to file alternate tariff packages and TRAI would require a week's time to clear them, Seth said, adding "we would like the operators to educate the consumers about their alternate plans at least 10 days prior to their implementation."

PTI