Sept. 2 – Tata Indicom, the CDMA mobile service brand operated by Tata Teleservices, recently introduced an innovative concept that would charge clients a fixed rate on a per call basis instead of the current per minute billing.

Mobile users availing of Tata Indicom’s services will be charged for every call they make regardless of the duration of the call. These type of calls will only be available for pre-paid mobile customers at a rate of Rs 1 for each local call and Rs 3 for every STD call, reported The Economic Times.

SMS messages will be charged 50 paise (or 50/100 of a rupee) per text for national and local messages. Mobile subscribers who want to avail of the special service will be able to do so at a daily fee of Rs 1. On the other hand, all current pre-paid users can shift to the new service by buying a one-time recharge voucher of Rs 96.

Tata executives told the media in a statement that while operators gave free minutes during specific hours  or provided free talk time, their  concept marked the first instance of an operator completely changing to a per call based billing system.

“There is no catch or any hidden charges. We have never gone back on a promise and our business model involves earning the respect and trust of our customers. That is how the Tatas work. This is a path-breaking value proposition for Indian telecom users,” the company’s MD Anil Sardana was quoted by The Economic Times. “The fact that this offer is for both local and STD calls makes it unique, something that holds the potential to completely redefine the Indian telecom pricing paradigm,” he added.

Tata Teleservices is India’s sixth largest cellular firm with 38 million subscribers on its CDMA platform with an estimated 92 pecent on them on pre-paid. The company belongs to the Tata Group of companies.