Mumbai, Oct 19 (IANS): A recent Kotak report has viewed Jios decision to pass on the IUC (Interconnect Usage Charges) to its customers as "puzzling" on several counts including the timing and the mode of recovery.

The report said that Jio's decision less than three months before the current date of move to a zero-MTR regime is "baffling" and so is the chosen mode (IUC top-up vouchers).

"Having paid IUC 'from its own resources while offering free voice to its customers', per the press release, for nearly three years now, we are not sure why Jio could not have waited another couple of months for the final outcome (a new tariff order reversing the enacted regulation OR no new tariff order) of the ongoing consultation," it said.

Further on the mode of recovery which is in the form of IUC top-up vouchers ranging from Rs 10 (124 minutes off-out allowance; no validity per the press release) to Rs 100 (1,362 minutes off-out allowance) was difficult to understand, the report said.

"In effect, Jio is making an additional recharge compulsory for off-out calling. This dilutes the ‘simplicity' proposition of Jio's pricing architecture," Kotak said in the report.

Another puzzling aspect is the fact that Jio has decided to charge 100 per cent of its gross off-out traffic and isn't just trying to recover the net IUC cost, it added.

Besides the report said, we are not sure why Jio continues to highlight Bharti's and VIL's ‘exorbitant' voice tariffs for their 2G customers as a problem. Missed call behaviour is real and does result in Jio being a net IUC payer.