Are Mobile Roaming Charges Really Justified?

As everyone awaits the ruling body’s verdict on national roaming and hopes that roaming in India becomes free, let’s look at the argument that could well swing the argument in the consumers’ favour.

Roaming in India

When you are on prepaid roaming in India may be costly affair. While on an average, prepaid customers in the home network are charged 72p per minute for local calls and Re. 1 for STD calls, customers on national roaming may be changed anywhere between Rs. 1 to 1.5 per minute on outgoing calls, even more on incoming calls, sms roaming charges, roaming data charges vary as per the prepaid mobile service provider.

In a document on national roaming by a well known, national level telecom operator (which is publicly available on the TRAI website), the telecom giant makes many valid points in favour of making national roaming free for all.

First and most hard hitting among these is national roaming acting as an impediment to the constitutional rights to free movement of information, people and trade; which are hampered by the inflated mobile roaming charges. Even with the restraint enacted by TRAI in 2007, national roaming remains to burn a hole into prepaid connection users in India.

Another very valid point which comes across in mobile roaming charges being waived off is the boost to helpful socially and culturally beneficial services that require mobile communication and connectivity through the national region. Socially relevant services which require people to move throughout the geography of India would be better provided if roaming in India becomes free.

Speaking in common sense, and just a tiny bit of business sense, the telecom operators must have figured out that even with national roaming charges waived off, they will make much more than right now, as people tend to just go off the radar while on national roaming.

Roaming in India, by popular demand SHOULD be waived off, and the country should be treated as one big undivided territory – this seems to be the demand of the people as well as the telecom operators.