Govt to refer tariff hike issue to TRAI

New Delhi, Aug 22 (UNI) The Government today said it will refer the recent tariff hike by the mobile operators to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and will take a decision only after ascertaining the regulator's opinion.

''Let the TRAI decide on the hike first. Definitely tariff is in the control of the ministry,'' said Telecom Minister A Raja here on the sidelines of a function organised by Telecom Equipment Manufacturer Association.

The GSM operators earlier this month increased SMS charges by a flat 20 per cent to Re 1.20 per message and local call charges within their network by 20 per cent to Re 1.20 per minute from rupee one for prepaid customers.

Prior to that, majority of private GSM players hiked STD tariffs by over 10 per cent for prepaid users.

UNI