While the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India proposed to make all incoming calls on mobile phones from any source (mobile, landline or WLL-Mobile) free of charge, TRAI chairman M S Verma said on Saturday that any levy of fixed amount in lieu of incoming calls is invalid.

It may be recalled that earlier in the week, cellular companies announced free cell-to-cell incoming calls across all cellular networks. But is it really "free"? The answer is no.

Soon after the COAI decision, BPL Mobile increased the rentals and access fee of both its pre-paid and post-paid users by Rs 100 and Rs 54 respectively from January 24.

The company, which has entered into an inter-network connect agreement with leading GSM operators, said in order to avail of this facility, its post-paid subscribers will have to pay a rental of Rs 349 per month as against the current Rs 295 per month.

The company also reduced airtime rate on its pre-paid card by five paise to Rs 1.75 for a 60 seconds pulse.

The Cellular Operators' Association of India said that the cellular industry is in the process of upgrading its networks and billing systems to ensure a smooth transition to the new system of mobile-to-mobile incoming free. This process is expected to take up to a week in some service areas.