TRAI has issued the ninth amendment to the Interconnection Usage Charges Regulation that deals with, among other things, the access deficit charge (ADC) payable by private operators.

Through the amendment, TRAI has decided to phase out ADC as a percentage of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) from April 1, 2008. Currently, ADC has two parts –­ 0.75 per cent of AGR that service providers pay to BSNL and Re 1 per minute on international incoming calls also paid to BSNL by international long distance service providers. The regulator has also announced a reduction in ADC on international calls to Re 0.50.