Special Tariff Vouchers for Limited Calls and SMS Soon

Ø TRAI Releases Telecom Consumer Protection (Thirteenth Amendment) Regulations, 2026

· Regulatory Action: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) issued the Telecom Consumer Protection (Thirteenth Amendment) Regulation, 2026, addressing gaps left by the 2024 Twelfth Amendment regarding the limited availability of non-data tariff options.

· Mandatory Voice & SMS-Only STVs: Telecom service providers (TSPs) are now required to offer Special Tariff Vouchers (STVs) exclusively for voice and SMS with appropriate reductions in tariff.

· Validity Requirements & Flexibility:

o Operators must provide voice-and-SMS-only STVs matching each validity period of 30 days and less than 30 days that are offered for bundled plans containing voice, SMS, and data.

o Vouchers must include an option for validity renewable on the same date of every month (or the last day of the month if that date is unavailable).

o TSPs must provide at least one voice-and-SMS-only STV with a validity period longer than the monthly/shorter options, mirroring longer-validity bundled plans.

· Extensive Stakeholder Consultation: The final regulation followed a transparent public consultation process launched on April 7, 2026, which garnered 1,132 stakeholder responses and featured an Open House Discussion on June 15, 2026.

· Consumer Empowerment: The amended framework aims to give low-income consumers and users who prefer not to buy bundled data greater flexibility, enabling them to recharge according to their precise financial capacity and communication needs.

[ABS News Service/22.09.2026]

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released the Telecom Consumer Protection (Thirteenth Amendment) Regulation, 2026 on 21 September, 2026.

TRAI had released the draft Telecom Consumer Protection (Thirteenth Amendment) Regulations (TCPR), 2026 for consultation on its website on 07.04.2026. Since the implementation of TCPR (Twelfth Amendment), 2024, the Authority observed the limitation in the availability of Voice-and-SMS-only Special Tariff Vouchers (STVs)  being offered by telecom service providers, where only a limited number of such STVs, concentrated on longer validities were being offered and making low-income consumers deprived of affordable shorter duration choices. In order to address this concern, the draft TCPR (Thirteenth Amendment) consultation was issued.

In response to the draft Amendment, a total of 1132 responses were received from stakeholders. An Open House Discussion (OHD) on the consultation paper was also held on 15.06.2026.

Based on the responses received from the stakeholders and on its own analysis, TRAI has finalised the Telecom Consumer Protection (Thirteenth Amendment) Regulation, 2026.

The salient feature of this amendment is to mandate STVs with appropriate reduction in tariff, exclusively for Voice and SMS for:

i. validities corresponding to each validity period of thirty days and less than thirty days for STV being offered for Voice, SMS and data and;

ii. validity renewable on the same date of every month and if the date of such renewal is not available in a month, the date of renewal shall be the last date of that month and;

iii. at least one STV with validity more than (i) and (ii) above, corresponding to the validity period of STVs being offered for Voice, SMS and data.

The Authority is of the view that such a tariff framework would sufficiently address consumer requirements. This amended regulation will provide low-income consumers with more options, allowing them to recharge according to their requirements and financial capacity. Overall, it will improve choices for consumers preferring not to use STVs bundled with data.

The amendment has been placed on TRAI's website (www.trai.gov.in). For any clarification/information, Shri. Vijay Kumar, Advisor (F&EA) may be contacted at Tel No. 011-20907773 or at email ID: fea1-div@trai.gov.in.