UAE telecom operators Etisalat and du have started charging fee for forwarding local and international calls from one phone to another.

The two operators confirmed to Arabic daily Emarat Al Youm that the charges for call forwarding will be same as the outgoing local or international calls.

Elaborating on international tariffs, Etisalat and du said charges would vary, depending on the country the call is being forwarded to.

Both the operators claimed that it’s a normal practice and is recognised globally. While the UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) disagreed, saying that it is not a normal practice because some telecom operators receive fees while others do not.

Etisalat said company will follow charges applied by the global telecommunications industry for this service.

However, official source at Etisalat told the daily that call forwarding charges will apply from the time when the customer answered the call until he ended.

He suggested that customers can take advantage by subscribing to a package offering fixed tariff for call forwarding.

Farid Faraidooni, CEO of Commercial Affairs at du, said company started charging fee for forwarding calls recently.

He also emphasized that this procedure is universally recognised by telecoms operators.

He said fee for international calls forwarded by du subscribers will be same as international charges. And if a call is forwarded to local number, local call charges will be applicable.

Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim, Director General of TRA, said it is not an ordinary measure where charges for call forwarding are universally recognized.

He said some operators receive fee for service call forwarding and others do not. For example, Saudi Telecom provides it free of charge while Oman telecom operator charges fees.

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