[Effendi]

Russian president signs caller pays principle bill into law

MOSCOW, Mar 6 (Prime-Tass) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law a bill seeking to introduce the Calling Party Pays (CPP) principle effective July 1, the government's press service said on Saturday.

Among other things, the bill forbids telecommunication operators from charging receiving parties for incoming calls.

The bill provides for three exceptions to the CPP principle.

The bill stipulates that receiving parties must pay for direct-dialed collect calls, collect calls made via telephone operators, and for roaming calls, which are made from a region other than the home region for their phone numbers.

According to the bill, telecommunications operators whose tariffs are subject to government regulation must also give their subscribers an option to repay access fees at least six months after installation with an advance payment of no more than 30%. In Russia most traditional fixed-line operators are subject to government regulation.

Currently, Russian mobile operators charge for most incoming fixed-to-mobile phone calls. They do offer, however, free fixed-to-mobile incoming calls on some contracts with a minimum monthly fee.