NEW DELHI: Landline calls in Chennai will be free for a week while telephones for which dues are yet to be paid will not be disconnected for 15 days, said Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today.

The city has been battered by the heaviest rainfall in close to a century.

“Landline calls in the Chennai circle are free for a week. The phones whose dues are not paid will not be disconnected for 15 days,” Prasad told reporters here.

The state-owned BSNL has also announced that it will allow free local and STD calls to other BSNL mobile phone users as well as 100 MB data for seven days for its pre-paid users.

Other private operators are not behind, which are offering free talktime to their customers.