TRAI Revises Tariff Rules, Mandates Separate Plans For Voice And SMS

Telecom regulator TRAI on Monday revised tariff rules, requiring mobile service providers to offer separate plans for voice calls and SMS for customers not using data.

Additionally, the regulator lifted the 90-day limit on special recharge coupons, extending it to a maximum of 365 days.

"...the service provider shall offer at least one Special Tariff Voucher exclusively for Voice and SMS with a validity period not exceeding three hundred and sixty-five days," the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said in the Telecom Consumers Protection (Twelfth Amendment) Regulations, 2024. The move will help consumers to pay for services that they generally use.

During the consultation process, TRAI received various opinions, including from senior citizens and families with home broadband, who may not require data-bundled recharge plans for their mobile phones.

In an explanatory note, TRAI stated that it believes separate special tariff vouchers for voice and SMS, alongside existing data-only STVs and bundled offers, should be mandatory.

"It is also observed that mandating Voice and SMS-only STV will provide an option to subscribers who do not require data, and this in any way will not reverse the government initiative of data inclusion as service providers are at liberty to offer bundled offers and data-only vouchers," the note said.

The regulator has also permitted telecom operators to offer recharge vouchers of any value, with the condition that they must also provide a recharge coupon worth at least Rs 10. Previously, the rule restricted telecom operators to issuing top-up vouchers in denominations of Rs 10 or its multiples.

"The Authority is of the view that reserving of denomination of 210 and multiples thereof only for top-up vouchers be done away with and TSPs may be allowed to offer all the vouchers in any denomination of their choice while retaining the mandate of at least one top-up voucher of denomination of Rs 10," the note said.