Jio's New Year gift: Voice calls to other networks in India to be free from January 1

Mumbai, Dec 31: India's largest telecom operator Reliance Jio on Thursday announced that all voice calls made from Jio to other networks in India will be free from January 1.

"Honouring its commitment to revert off-net domestic voice-call charges to zero, as soon as IUC charges are abolished, Jio will once again make all off-net domestic voice calls free, starting 1st January 2021," the company said in a statement. Currently, customers are being charged for off-net voice calls due to the IUC regime. It added that on-net domestic voice calls have always been free on the Jio network.

The company added that it "stands firm on its commitment to make the common Indian the beneficiary of advanced technologies like VoLTE".

Jio has been charging 6p per minute for calls to other networks to recover Interconnect Usage Charges, which is ending after today.

Jio already doesn't charge for calls within its own network.

Jio charged its users a rate exactly equivalent to the applicable IUC charge. It said that after the TRAI's order, the company had assured users that the charges will be in effect only until the telecom regulator abolishes IUC.