Reliance Jio Says No Charges For Calling Non-Jio Numbers Until Existing Plan Expires

Reliance Jio on Thursday said that customers who recharged their numbers on or before October 9 will continue to get free call benefits. "If you have recharged on or before October 9, you can continue enjoying free call benefits (even to non-Jio members), until your plan expires," the telecom operator mentioned in a tweet. On Wednesday, Jio announced that it will charge 6 paise per minute for calls made to other network operators in line with the Interconnect Usage Charge or IUC fixed by the telecom regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). This is for the first time that users will have to pay for making a phone call from Jio.

This means that customers who have recharged their numbers with any plan of the operator by October 9 will not have to pay any additional charges for making calls to other networks until their next recharge.

Jio said that IUC charges will not be applicable on calls made by Jio users to other Jio numbers and to landline phones and calls made using WhatsApp, FaceTime and other such platforms. Incoming calls from all networks will also continue to be free. However, Jio's postpaid customers will be charged for voice calls at the rate of 6 paise per minute. 

The telecom operator had earlier assured that calls made to other mobile operators will be charged at the prevailing IUC rate of 6 paise per minute through IUC top-up vouchers till such time that TRAI moves to zero termination charge regime.

Jio's IUC top-up vouchers are priced between Rs 10 and Rs 100, according to a company statement. These plans offer certain IUC minutes and additional data.