State-owned telecom major BSNL is understood to have finalised plans to cut the domestic mobile roaming charges to as low as Re 1 a minute for incoming calls and Rs 1.50 for outgoing calls.

"Charges for receiving a call while roaming are at present Rs 1.75 per 60 seconds, while that for making calls are a maximum Rs 2.40 a minute," company officials said.

However, the rates cannot fall below this level as there is a 65 paise carriage charge and 30 paise termination charge involved, which have to be covered when a person receives an incoming call while roaming.

Telecom Minister A Raja had earlier said that the Department of Telecommunications was looking at the possibility of lowering the domestic roaming charges, as planned by his predecessor Dayanidhi Maran.

Maran, who quit earlier this month due to political compulsions, had said that he planned to abolish the domestic roaming charges as a gift to the nation on the occasion of his party (DMK) president M Karunanidhi on his birthday on June 3.

NLD charges

The officials, however, said not charging a subscriber making calls while roaming is impossible as National Long Distance telecom charges apply.

There is also a possibility that incoming calls while roaming for a limited number of minutes could be made free.

"But the number of minutes, during which such charges will not apply, will be very much limited," they added.

BSNL is working on four-five tariff plans to accommodate these changes and will announce the details on Friday. The officials indicated that the plans could carry higher rentals.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had announced a 56 per cent reduction in roaming tariff on February 15. The private players are expected to follow the company`s move to remain competitive.