Jio’s free voice offer will only last till December 3
Yes, you read that right. Reliance Jio’s free voice call offer is limited only till the 3rd of December, says Trai. The telecom regulator Trai has said that promotional offers cannot exceed a period of 90 days. The regulator has also stated clearly that Reliance Jio’s scheme is promotional and not predatory so it has to end on Dec 3.
Trai had made this observation after the other telecom operators raised complaints against Jio’s promotional offer of offering free voice calls. They said Jio was violating the regulator’s tariff order.
Trai cleared the air and told the telecom operators such as Airtel, Vodafone India, Idea Cellular, Telenor India and Videocon Telecom that- The revised offer of free services by Jio has now been limited to 90 days, that is, up to December 3, 2016. And so, the offer now meets Trai’s guidelines on promotional offers.
Trai mentioned that Jio’s offer cannot be considered as predatory, inter-connect usage charge non-compliant and discriminatory at present, based on the various submissions made by Jio. They also said that Jio’s tariff plan filed with the telecom regulator mentions 2 paise per second charge for voice calls. There is no scene of free voice calls for lifetime in Jio’s submissions to Trai. Because of this Trai is considering it to be a promotional offer and has now limited it to last only for 90 days.
However, Reliance Jio says the company would file fresh tariff plans to clear the confusion regarding promotional offers with Trai.
Reliance still sticks to the fact that voice call on its network will remain free for lifetime. However, it agrees that Jio’s promotional ‘Welcome Offer’ will have to end on December 3. The company says that the welcome offer will be available for subscription till December 3. The benefits of the same shall continue to be available to all subscribers till December 31.
