Talk is cheap — but not behind bars, so the City Council is set to pass a bill that would allow Rikers inmates to make calls for free.

The legislation passed the Council’s Committee on Criminal Justice Tuesday, and the full Council is expected to approve it Wednesday.

Inmates now pay a one-time, 48-cent surcharge to use a phone, 8 cents per minute for the first three minutes, and 11 cents per minute for longer calls, according to the city’s contract with Securus, the vendor that operates the city’s phone system.

Securus also charges additional fees to initially place money into inmates’ accounts.

“Indigent” defendants, meaning those who cannot afford their own attorneys, and who have yet to be sentenced for the alleged crimes that landed them in Rikers, are allowed three free calls per week.

Sentenced “indigent” defendants are entitled to two free calls per week.

The city ends up collecting about $5 million from the calls, and Securus makes an additional $3 million, according to the Brooklyn Defender Services, which has been advocating for the free calls.

“Thousands of people in the city jails are there just because the court set bail beyond what they can afford,” said Jared Chausow, senior policy specialist at the agency.

“We see it as a crucial support for people we represent and also a break from the status quo in that New York City is generating revenue from its jails.”