Editing Telecommunications tariff (section)

==Components of tariffs==
Tariffing systems vary from country to country and company to company, but in general they are based on several simple principles. Tariffs are generally made up of two components:
* '''Standing charges''':  these are fixed charges that are used to pay for the cost of the connection to the nearest exchange and the equipment to monitor that customer's phone line or service connection. They are usually paid on a monthly basis, and called rental.
* '''Call charges''': these charges are variable and are used to pay for the cost of the equipment to route a call from the caller's exchange to the recipient's exchange. These call charges can be calculated on a fixed per call basis, a variable basis depending on the time or distance of the call, or a combination of the two. Call charges can even vary at different times of the day.  For many local calls the charge is zero; ''see [[flat rate]]''.

These components form a basic tariff system but, as telecommunication advances, tariff structures become increasingly more complex.<ref name=geek>{{cite web|title=What is a Telecom Tariff?|url=http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-telecom-tariff.htm|publisher=wiseGeek|accessdate=14 September 2013}}</ref> Usually there is the option of calling collect (in the [[United Kingdom|UK]] known as ''reversing charges''), where responsibility for charges normally paid by the caller is accepted by the recipient. Tariffs<ref name=telecomtariff>{{cite web|title=What is a Telecom Tariff India?|url=https://www.telecomtariff.in/2020/06/what-is-telecom-tariff-india.html|publisher=telecomtariff|accessdate=17 June 2020}}</ref> also depend on the bandwidth provided. For example, dial-up [[modem]] connections are charged at normal [[telephone]] costs, but connections such as [[Digital subscriber line|DSL]] are usually charged using a completely different accounting system due to their ''always on'' nature.