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Cell phone rates down
New Delhi: Cellular phone companies have cut down their tariff rates
following a directive to this effect by the Delhi high court. The reduction in monthly
rental charges will be with effect from 1 November 1999. The Cellular Operators
Association of India said the rental charges will be fixed at Rs 475 in metro cities and
Rs 500 for other circles against the prevailing rate of Rs 600 per month. The airtime
charges will be brought down from Rs six per minute to Rs four per minute in metros and to
Rs 4.50 per minute in other circles. The reduction in airtime charges will come into
effect from 1 February 2000.
The high court had given the directive on the basis of
tariffs recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.
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Trai recommendations not
mandatory
New Delhi: The government has clarified that the recommendations of the
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on licensing issues may not be binding on it, but
the licensor, the department of telecommunications, will have to go back to the regulator
at least once to get the benefit of its advice in the event of problems with any of the
recommendations. This will be an amendment to the proposed TRAI Amendment Ordinance 2000
that is being cleared by the government.
The government also clarified that it will be mandatory
for the government to seek the recommendations of Trai on the need and timing for
introduction of new service providers, the terms and conditions of licence to a service
provider and revocation of a licence for non-compliance of terms and conditions.
Information technology minister Pramod Mahajan, who made an announcement earlier that it
would be mandatory for the government to accept Trai’s recommendations, admitted that
hehad made a mistake in this regard.
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Reliance-WorldTel
project given okay
New Delhi: The joint venture set up between Reliance Industries and
WorldTel has been given permission by the department of telecommunications to start
Internet services in Tamil Nadu with Alcot, a Tamil Nadu government company. The joint
venture will have a 74 per cent holding in the proposed venture while Alcot will pick up
the balance equity. With this, the Rs 22,000-crore fibre optic cable cum Internet-based
national communications backbone that Reliance-WorldTel is planning will originate from
Tamil Nadu.
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Nominee directors of
banks removed
New Delhi: The government has removed some 126 nominee directors on the
boards of nationalised banks all over the country. These directors have ended their terms
as per section 9(iii) (e) (f) and (g) of the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer
of Undertaking) Act 1970/80. Under an act of the Parliament, the government has been given
the powers to determine the term of office of the nominee directors. Government sources
said all the directors were on extension and the government has just withdrawn the
extensions.
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Allahabad Bank to
seek World Bank loan
Calcutta: Allahabad Bank is applying to the World Bank for a Rs 100-crore
loan to fund its computerisation programme. The bank’s chairman and managing director
Harbhajan Singh says the loan will be utilised for inter and intra-bank networking, credit
information, ATM cash network development and management information systems. The bank has
already availed of a Rs 65-crore World Bank loan for modernisation and institutional
development.
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ICICI Bank has
Internet-based credit card
Mumbai: ICICI Bank has launched an Internet-based credit card. The card
users will be able to make their transactions over the Internet and get details online.
This is the first such product in India for which ICICI has tied up with Visa
International. This product completes the entire range of personal products the bank is
planning to offer. The bank has issued the first card to Reliance Industries’chairman
Dhirubhai Ambani. One of the features of the card is that customers are able to access
information about their transactions and even send instructions over the Internet. The
card has three variants, True Blue, Sterling Silver and Solid Gold, the last one a global
card. The joining fee for the three cards are Rs 100, Rs 150 and Rs 300 and annual charges
Rs 300, Rs 600 and Rs 1,200 respectively.
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