The TRAI's consultation paper presented today, which essentially strives to remove the subsidies hidden in the present tariff structure to a more cost-based regime, will now be open for discussion over the next few weeks with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), private operators, consumer groups and others after which the TRAI will consider incorporation of some modifications. The Authority is expected to issue a final notification about the actual tariffs by November, later this year.

The hike in rentals proposes to adjust for the normal inflationary pressures which have not been adjusted for since 1993 when the rentals were last revised. It also proposes to force subscribers to pay for some of the cost of capital invested in building up the telecom infrastructure which is not helped if subscribers get phone connections which are not optimally used.

According to the TRAI's present proposals monthly telephone rental is proposed to be revised upwards from the existing Rs 50 in rural areas to a maximum of Rs 120. For other areas where current rentals are in the region of Rs 75-Rs 190 slab for semi-urban and urban areas has been revised to Rs 160-Rs 310.

Even local call charges which currently range between 60 paise to Rs 1.40 per five minute call will be raised to a flat rate with a ceiling of Rs 1.30 but now charged every three minutes. Non-rural areas, where the current charges are in the range of 80 paise to Rs 1.40, will have a flat ceiling of Rs 1.40. The ceiling means that this would be the maximum rate the DoT/MTNL or the private operators, as the case may be, can charge though there may be some rates lower than this.

Apart from this, the number of free calls in every bimonthly billing cycle that a subscriber is allowed -- currently fixed at 150 calls in urban and 25O in rural areas -- has been proposed to be brought down to a uniform 120 calls irrespective of the area.

The TRAI has also proposed that the principle of ``caller to pay'' will now require subscribers, calling from a normal landline phone to a mobile phone, to pay Rs 3.90 per minute (detected by the computer as a call made to a 98-number). At the same time mobile phone owners who so far paid for all incoming calls also on their mobile phone -- will now be receiving these calls free.