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August 7, 1998 |
A Staff Writer in Bombay The Department of Telecommunications, the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited and the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited have jointly announced the introduction of their India Direct Service. It will assist Indians travelling abroad to make calls to India using the services of an Indian operator.
India Direct allows Indians travelling abroad to make international calls to India that are charged in rupees in India. To use this service, a person in a foreign country calls a unique number and is connected automatically to an MTNL operator in Bombay. The MTNL operator will then pass the call on to the desired number in India, having first checked that the called party is ready to bear the charges. Amitabh Kumar, acting chairman and managing director, VSNL, has said that the service would be particularly helpful to Indian students overseas and Indians travelling on business or vacation. Another important benefit, Kumar points out, is that since the caller is dialling from a public pay phone or a private phone in the foreign country, he or she would only be using enough foreign currency for a local call. In fact in some countries the special India direct number is toll free. At present India Direct services are available from 16 countries:
The minimum charge is a 3-minute call plus a call surcharge of one minute irrespective of whether the call is 3 minutes or less. For every additional minute or part thereof, a full minute will be charged. |
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