Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi took a jibe at Reliance Jio on Thursday after the mobile data network declared that calls made to other mobile operators would be charged at 6 paise per minute at the prevailing interconnect usage charge (IUC), by means of top-up vouchers, until the time the TRAI abolishes IUC in compliance with its current regulation.
"JIO has decided to charge its customers because always remember that however big a lollypop you are offered, at the end there are no free lunches. Situation applicable to the present Modi Sarkar as well," Singhvi tweeted.
In a statement on Wednesday, Reliance Jio stated, "We will share all data with TRAI to convince that zero IUC regime is in the best interest of consumers and how the huge number of missed calls is creating the wrong perception of asymmetric traffic."
"We are hopeful that the IUC charge will be done away with as per the current regulation and that this temporary charge will come to an end by December 31 and consumers will not have to pay this charge thereafter," it added.
In the meantime, consumers can use the additional data entitlement in lieu of the IUC top-up vouchers so that there is no effective tariff increase till the year-end, Jio said.
IUC is a cost paid by one mobile telecom operator to another when its customers make outgoing mobile calls to the other operator's customers.
( With inputs from ANI )