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Telephony In India for both fixed and
mobile is billed using pre-paid and post paid system. Fixed
duration contract based billing is offered by a very few
providers on very limited number of plans.
In case of pre-paid mobile services, the
customer top ups his account in advance with money in the form
of credits which then can be subsequently used for making calls,
sms, data etc. This is similar to the Pay As You Go service
offered by telephony companies in US & UK. The subscriber can
top up with any amount of his or her wish and is not bound by
any monthly commitment to spend some pre fixed amount every
month in topping up. This allows for great deal of flexibility
and freedom to the subscriber as depending on the usage he can
spend on credits. Most of the mobile companies offer attractive
fixed denominations to top up with so as to offer extra benefit
to the subscriber. The service tax component of the mobile
telephony service is also included in these top ups. Top ups in
India are commonly referred to as recharges. Top ups start at as
little is Rs. 10 and go up to Rs.10,000 in case of most mobile
companies. A subscriber can recharge his or her account via both
channels online and offline.
Post-paid telephony services refer to the
billing system in which subscriber pays for the telephony
services post he or she has consumed the same. In this kind of
billing system there is a billing cycle – monthly, in case of
most service providers. For all the calls, sms, data etc
consumed in the billing cycle, the customer pays at the start of
the next cycle. Penalty fees are levied in case of late payment
and in some cases discounts are offered on payment before due
date.
For heavy users Post-paid service is better
as per unit call costs comes down while for light to moderate
users Pre-paid service is better.Any subscriber is free to
switch from pre-paid service to post paid service and
vice-versa. Majority of retail subscribers use pre paid service
for mobile telephony in India.
Operator bundling the mobile handset with
mobile services is not much popular in India, unlike in the US
where 24 months and 18 months contract are much popular. One
reason for the same is that call tariffs in India are amongst
the lowest in the world. |
