TRAI Mandates Shorter Voice-and-SMS-Only Recharge Plans for Low-Income Users

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has moved to widen affordable recharge choices for low-income telecom users, mandating that service providers offer voice-and-SMS-only plans across shorter validity periods with corresponding tariff reductions.

The change comes through the Telecom Consumer Protection (Thirteenth Amendment) Regulations, 2026. Under the revised framework, operators must provide voice-and-SMS-only special tariff vouchers (STVs) with an appropriate reduction in tariff for validity periods matching each of the 30-day and sub-30-day validity options currently available for combined voice, SMS and data packs.

TRAI has also required operators to offer a voice-and-SMS-only STV that can be renewed on the same date every month. Where that date does not exist in a given month, the renewal will fall on the last day of the month.

In addition, at least one voice-and-SMS-only STV must be offered with a validity longer than the shorter and monthly options, corresponding to the validity periods of existing voice, SMS and data STVs.

The regulator said the amended framework is intended to give consumers who do not need bundled data more freedom to recharge according to their requirements and financial capacity. It observed that after the implementation of the Telecom Consumer Protection (Twelfth Amendment), 2024, voice-and-SMS-only STVs were in limited supply in the market, with the available plans largely concentrated on longer validity periods. That left low-income consumers without affordable shorter-duration choices.

TRAI said the revised tariff framework would sufficiently address consumer requirements and is expected to improve the availability of voice-and-SMS-only options across different validity periods, giving users greater flexibility in choosing plans based on their usage and affordability.