BSNL launches instant pre-paid mobile card for foreigners

By PTI
New Delhi: Seeking to tap the inbound foreign tourists segment, state run BSNL has launched a special pre-paid card with instant activation facility at a cost of Rs5,618.
Foreign tourists often complain of difficulties in getting a pre-paid connection due to regulatory reasons or identification problems. In calling cards the charges are exorbitantly high.
On the BSNL card, a user has to pay Rs5,618 for an initial talk value of Rs3,000 with a 30-day validity. The applicable pulse rate is 60 seconds and the charges are same as for India citizens, company officials said.
Local call charges are 90 paise a minute for BSNL’s GSM network and Rs 1.20 for non-BSNL network. For STD calls, charges are Rs 2 per minute for BSNL’s GSM and fixed line phones, while for other it is Rs2.40.
For international calls, the charges are Rs7.20 a minute for calls to the US, Canada, the UK, Sri Lanka. For calls to Europe (other than the UK), Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE, Oman and Qatar, the figure is Rs 9.60, while for the rest of the world, it is Rs12.
Earlier, BSNL had reduced international roaming tariff for foreigners using its network in the country by up to 40%, a relief for tourists who often complain of high telephone charges while on the move in India.
For foreigners visiting India, the tariff for outgoing local/STD call is slashed to about Rs30 per minute from Rs49, while an ISD call will cost Rs70 per minute, against Rs99 earlier. For an incoming call, a person has to pay Rs50 per minute instead of earlier Rs75 a minute.
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