Reliance Infocomm on Friday drastically slashed mobile tariffs, reducing prepaid tariffs by about 60 per cent on Reliance IndiaMobile and offering virtually double the talktime available on competing prepaid services.

Under this tariff structure, local and intra-circle calls from RIM Prepaid to any Reliance India Mobile (prepaid and post paid) and Reliance India Phone (FWP/FWT) is reduced to Rs 0.99 (from Rs 2.49).

The local and intra-circle calls from RIM Prepaid to any other GSM operator has been reduced to Rs 1.79 (from Rs 2.49 to Rs 2.99).

All inter-circle calls from RIM prepaid to any RIM or FWP/FWT anywhere in the country will now cost only Rs 1.79 (from Rs 2.99) and to other GSM operators and landline, it will cost only Rs.2 49 (from Rs 2.99 to Rs 3.99).

A Reliance Infocomm media release claimed that these are the lowest mobile tariffs in the country.

Announcing the new RIM prepaid tariffs, S P Shukla, president, wireless products and services, Reliance Infocomm said, "All existing as well as new RIM prepaid customers can avail of the new tariff benefits when they recharge with a new prepaid voucher of Rs 325."

Reliance Infocomm has already lined up a range of mobile phones at affordable rates for the spread of mobile telephony in the country, from a data-enabled, multimedia black and white handset at Rs 2,499 to a colour display handset at Rs 4,999.

Another advantage for RIM Prepaid customer will be that she/he can also roam on home tariffs across India. When roaming, out going calls will be charged at home tariff, whereas incoming calls will be charged at Rs 1.79 per minute, which is less than half of what the industry charges for roaming facility, said the media release.

Voice mail retrieval will be at reduced home tariff rates of Rs 0.99/minute, against the lowest in the industry.

Prepaid customers will also have access to 1234 SMS-based services and call management services like three-way conference call and caller line identification. It also offers a single toll free customer care access number across the country with an option of 9 different languages.

Reliance Infocomm Ltd, a Reliance group company, is one of India's largest mobile service providers with over 8 million customers.