Skype to bar calls on mobile, landline within India from November 10

As of November 10, 2014 Skype will end support for calling within India, meaning calls to mobiles and landlines from Skype within India will no longer be available.

If you have been using Skype, the internet-based calling service, to make phone calls to Indian mobile or land lines, you cannot do so from November 10.

Microsoft, which owns the service, has announced that it'll pull off support to this service from that date.

Though Microsoft did not state the reasons, industry sources suggest Skype faced a legal obstacle as terminating an internet-based call on an Indian line was not allowed.

But you can continue to use Skype to make calls to overseas landline or mobile lines, apart from making Skype-to-Skype calls anywhere. Among possible reasons being suggested for the move are security concerns or violation of telecom licence terms.

"Users in India can still make free Skype-to-Skype calls worldwide, international calls to mobiles and landlines and users outside the country can call mobiles and landlines in India," a Microsoft spokesperson said.

"I suspect that somebody has pointed out to them that it is not legal and possibly hinted at legal action," telecom industry analyst Mahesh Uppal said.

He said probably international users with Skype credits were able to call Indian numbers through that. Mobile operators have also been grumbling about Skype eating into long distance revenues.