BSNL cuts local, STD charges from PCOs

State-owned BSNL has rationalised the call charges from its public call office booths under which local and intra-circle calls to any network will be Re 1 per minute for a 60-second pulse, while STD calls will be cheaper by 50 paise.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, the largest telecom service provider of India, has rationalised the call charges from its GSM PCOs/CCB PCOs/Local PCOs/Local VPT.

As per the new tariffs, the calls from these PCOs to any network and to anywhere within the state will be charged uniformly at Re 1 a per minute with 60 second pulse, the company said.

The inter circle/STD calls from GSM PCOs have also been reduced to Rs 2.50 from the existing Rs 3.00 per minute with 60 second pulse. The minimum guarantee for Local PCOs, including CCB PCOs has also been reduced from existing Rs 500 to Rs 300 per month in urban areas.

In addition, BSNL has also liberalised the policy for allotment of local and STD/ISD PCOs that PCO may be allotted to any person who are running private operator's PCOs.

The tariff for GSM PCOs will be applicable from Wednesday and the tariff for local PCOs/VPT/CCB PCOs has been made applicable earlier.