New Delhi: Communication Minister Arun Shourie on May 12 apprised Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee of latest developments in the telecom sector including tariff revision, the issue, which rocked the Parliament last week.

According to sources, the rise in basic telecom tariffs like rates for making a call from basic phone to cellular phone, which have gone up six times in case of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), and reduction in number of free calls came up for discussion.

The meeting, which lasted for about an hour, was also attended by Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh and BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) president Venkiah Naidu.

Shourie refused to say anything about the meeting, saying, "PM was wanting to know about the latest developments in the telecom sector and I have briefed him."

He said no decision like roll-back of tariffs as announced by TRAI on January 23 was taken.

Roll back of tariffs, however, was not expected as TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) has announced its decision to review the Interconnect User Charge (IUC) regime which led to revision of telecom tariffs for all types of services including cellular, basic and WLL based limited mobility services.

PTI