New Delhi, Feb. 2: Private cellular operators and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) have locked horns over the hike in STD and local call rates from mobile phones.

At the heart of the controversy is a decision by cellular operators to raise call rates by 80 paise. This is a cost that the operators have been asked to pay by the regulator as access deficit charge (ADC) to Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL). ADC is being charged to compensate BSNL for the cost it incurs for creating an unviable phone network in rural and inaccessible areas.

A senior executive of the Cellular Operators Association of India (Coai) said, “The total deficit on account of rural lines should be made public. This is important since BSNL does not have separate accounting norms for its service and ADC is supposed to be meant to recover the losses on its unviable rural operations.”

Cellular operators and CDMA service providers like Reliance and Tatas, which are now offering full-scale mobile services, will also have to pay the ADC charge. Private operators have urged Trai that they should calculate the actual amount of ADC amount to be recovered based on verifiable data from BSNL and should not include any lines that do not deserve ADC.

“BSNL is our competitor too. How do we determine that the cost we are paying is being used for rural areas. We believe that BSNL would use the ADC to subsidise the mobile rates. The regulator should intervene, or the customers will have to bear the cost,” said COAI director general T. V. Ramachandran.

Reacting to the allegations, Trai said discussions were held with all the stakeholders on this issue so all these aspects that have been pointed by them were discussed and deliberated.

“There is no case for raising the rates. The calculation that Trai also showed to the Coai reflected that there is enough margin for them to absorb this cost. We will not intervene since the forbearance on tariffs and this was done to let the competition manage the tariff,” Trai member D. P. S. Seth said.

Trai officials also said the revised interconnection user charge (IUC) to be paid by operators for using another network was aimed at bringing down the tariff for consumers in view of reduced overall financial burden on service providers.