India’s Airtel puts on hold controversial plan to charge extra for making online calls

Indian telecom company Airtel will temporarily withdraw the decision to charge a higher rate for making online voice calls on its data network. Airtel last week announced a new plan to charge customers for data usage on instant messaging and VoIP apps like Skype, Viber, Whatsapp, and Line.

But now the telecom operator has decided to wait for a regulatory framework to be put in place, according to a statement today from Airtel.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will table a consultation paper to take a view whether social apps that offer voice calls should be brought under some sort of regulation. TRAI chairman Rahul Khullar had earlier stated that that while Airtel’s move was going against the concept of net neutrality, it was not illegal as there is no policy or regulatory framework in India which mandates operators to adhere to net neutrality.

Net neutrality is the notion that service providers must not differentiate between the traffic that flows over their network so that every user and service has equal access to the network.

#BoycottAirtel gains a voice

Airtel’s move to charge a higher rate for data used to make online calls was met with a strong backlash on social media. The new tariff plan would have charged customers on the number of minutes used on VoIP services, rather than the current system of charging by the amount of data used. This would have resulted in more expense for consumers who use messaging apps to make calls.

On popular social networking sites and forums, Indian consumers criticised Airtel’s move, starting the #BoycottAirtel hashtag to voice their opinions. This was quickly followed by the satirical #FutureAirtelCharges.

#FutureAirtelCharges "want to share selfies on Facebook. Subscribe to Selfie 99 (valid for 99 + 6 free selfies)"

— Javed Anwer (@brijwaasi) December 27, 2014

Within hours, users on Reddit responded with a campaign petitioning against the telecom giant with a detailed letter. A website called netneutrality.in was created in order to “educate people about net neutrality and share news about it in India.”

Meanwhile, another social media campaign which voiced support for Airtel, dubbed #WeSupportYouAirtel, didn’t gain much traction in the online world.

See: This father-son duo just made free voice calls a reality