The Hindu Business Line : `Penalise defaulting telecom vendors' — Garuda announces tariff plans for Delhi, Mumbai

The Union Minister for Communications and IT, Mr Arun Shourie, launching "Garuda-1X" for MTNL customers in the Capital on Saturday, along with Mr Narendra Sharma, CMD, MTNL.

NEW DELHI, May 17

PUBLIC sector telecom majors Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) ought to impose strict penalty clauses in their tenders so as to make the equipment vendors stick to the guidelines, the Union Communications Minister, Mr Arun Shourie, has said.

Speaking at the re-launch of the limited mobility (WLL) services of MTNL - Garuda-1X, the Minister noted that at present most of the penalty clauses are found to be ineffective because the defaulting equipment companies prefer to pay the fines, rather than rectifying the networks. In this context, he noted that MTNL's Garuda service, which was launched over a year ago, had not taken off because of the infrastructure provided by the vendor. However, to the credit of the vendor, the replacement of the infrastructure was carried out without any cost to MTNL.

Mr Shourie also noted that even in the case of village public telephony (VPT) obligations of the private basic operators, there is a need to make the penalty clauses stricter.

Earlier speaking on the occasion, the MTNL Chairman and Managing Director, Mr Narendra Sharma, announced the new tariffs for the Garuda service in Delhi and Mumbai. He noted that a pulse rate of 12 seconds had been introduced and a standard plan monthly rental of Rs 200. Calls made to cell phones would be charged at the rate of 55 paise per minute (11 paise per pulse of 12 seconds). Under this plan the tariff for call made to landline or fixed phones would be 75 paise per minute (15 paise per pulse).

Besides the Standard Tariff Plan, which is in compliance with the recommendation of the telecom sector regulator TRAI, he also announced three different plans - Silver, Gold and Platinum - to cater to the needs of various user sections.

The Silver Plan would have a monthly rental of Rs 399 and calls to WLL and cell phones would be charged at 50 paise per minute (10 paise per pulse) while those to fixed/landline phones would be charged at 70 paise per minute (14 paise per pulse).

The `Gold Tariff Plan' has a monthly rental of Rs 699 and call to WLL and cell phones are charged at 45 paise per minute (9 paise per pulse) and those to fixed/landline phones at the rate of 65 paise per minute (13 paise per pulse).

The `Platinum Tariff Plan' has a monthly rental of Rs 1,199 and calls to WLL and cell phones attract a tariff of 40 paise per minute (8 paise per pulse) and that to fixed/land lines 60 paise per minute (12 paise per pulse).

MTNL has also introduced a service that provides a virtual phone to the subscriber with facility for incoming messages, faxes and outgoing calls. Moreover, the virtual phone is accessible just like any other phone in the network and is permanent in nature, which means a subscriber can continue the same virtual phone number simply by getting it renewed after the expiry date. Called the MTNL Virtual Phone Card, the service is available in the form of a pre-paid card in two denominations - Rs 300 and Rs 600 and can be obtained from any Sanchar Haat by filling up a form that can be downloaded from the MTNL website.

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`Penalise defaulting telecom vendors' — Garuda announces tariff plans for Delhi, Mumbai