Exempt call centres from ADC: VSNL

Call centres are recognised as a separate class of service providers falling under the category of other service providers (OSPs) and should be exempted from access deficit charge (adc) on traffic routed to them, according to Videsh Sanchar Nigam (VSNL).

The Tata group-managed company, in its reply to a show-cause notice issued by the department of telecommunications (DoT) on April 4, said levying ADC would hamper the prospects of BPO companies.

"Call centres fall under the OSP category and are governed by DoT guidelines. An imposition of ADC would hamper the growth of the emerging, small-sector BPO companies in the country," VSNL said.

DoT had issued a show-cause notice to VSNL for allegedly routing international long distance (ILD) calls through international private leased line circuits (IPLCs) used by BPO units. It also said VSNL was trying to bypass ADC payment by converting ILD calls into data traffic meant for BPOs.

Quoting a recent amendment of BPO regulations, VSNL said global call centres, apart from using IPLCs, also use technologies like ATMs and frame relay managed international networks, making it difficult for service providers to monitor bandwidth usage.