Airtel removes roaming charges on calls, data

Bharti Airtel on Monday announced removal of all roaming charges for outgoing and incoming calls as well as SMSes and data usage within India as it takes on competition from new comer Reliance Jio.

India’s largest mobile phone service provider also said international call rates will be cut by up to 90 per cent to as low as Rs 3 per minute and data charges by up to 99 per cent to Rs 3 per MB across popular roaming destinations.

In a press statement, ‘Airtel declares War on Roaming’, the company said the move will lead to “death of National Roaming” from April 1.

Also, it said, there will be no bill shocks while roaming overseas — daily billing will be automatically adjusted to the price of basic one day pack even for customers who don’t buy a roaming pack.

“With this, Airtel mobile customers will be able to carry their numbers across India and the world and stay connected all the time without having to worry about high call/data charges,” it said. “Bill shocks will now be a thing of the past.”