Diwali gift for armed forces: Govt slashes call rates

In order to give Diwali gift to armed and para-military forces, telecom ministry has slashed call rates on Digital Satellite Phone Terminal (DSPT), to ensure that they can speak to their loved ones for "longer durations."

Minister of Communications Manoj Sinha said that "In order to use the facility of DSPT, the soldiers & officers at present are required to pay the monthly fee of Rs.500/- and call charges of Rs.5/- per minute. But, looking at the requirement of Soldiers & Officers and also the heavy cost they have to incur for talking to their family members, the government has taken an important decision on the auspicious occasion of Diwali."

Sinha said, from Diwali day (19th October 2017), no monthly fee will be taken for using DSPT service, that is, the current monthly fee of Rs.500/- will be 'Zero'.

Earlier satellite phone service was provided by Tata Communications but now State-run telecom operator BSNL will provide.

" The present telephone charges of Rs.5/- per minute is being reduced to Re.1/- per minute, Sinha added.

Meanwhile, Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan said the cost will have an impact of Rs 3-4 crore per annum which will be borne by the government.

At present, there are 2,500 satellite phone connections is present in the country.

"We have the capacity of 5,000 connections. We are informing the defense and the home ministries that more connections can be given. The total capacity can be further increased, if required, in six months," Sinha further added.

With this special Diwali Gift from government of India, Defence personnel can now talk without worrying about more expenses to their home and their headquarter ministry said.