TRAI Amends Regulations to Mandate No Data Only Voice Call Plan With Fixed Monthly Validity

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has notified the Telecom Consumers Protection (Thirteenth Amendment) Regulations, 2026 on 21st September 2026. It amends the Telecom Consumers Protection Regulations, 2012. The amendment substitutes the fourth proviso to sub-clause (iii) of clause (c) of sub-regulation (2) of regulation 4, and will come into force thirty days after publication in the Official Gazette. Here is an explainer on what the Amendment to Regulations have for stakeholders. 

Telecom Consumers Protection (Thirteenth Amendment) Regulations, 2026 – What's Changed?

The earlier fourth proviso under this sub-clause has been replaced. Under the new proviso, every telecom service provider must offer Special Tariff Vouchers (STVs), that is recharge plans priced lower than standard tariffs, offered for a limited period or purpose, that are exclusively for Voice and SMS, with the tariff reduced accordingly. The revised proviso lays down three specific conditions: 

1. Matching validity periods: The Voice-and-SMS-only STVs must be offered for validities corresponding to each validity period of thirty days, and to validity periods of less than thirty days, that are already offered for STVs covering Voice, SMS, and data, whether or not those data-bundled STVs come with value-added services (VAS).
2. Fixed monthly renewal date: The validity of these Voice-and-SMS-only STVs must renew on the same calendar date every month. If that date does not exist in a particular month (for instance, the 30th or 31st in February), the renewal falls on the last date of that month instead.
3. A longer-validity option: Service providers must also offer at least one Voice-and-SMS-only STV with a validity longer than the thirty-day and sub-thirty-day options described in (1) and (2), again matching the longer validity periods already offered for Voice, SMS, and data STVs (with or without VAS).

In effect, the amendment requires that wherever a telecom operator sells a Voice+SMS+data STV of a given validity, it must also sell a Voice+SMS-only STV of a matching validity, renewing on a fixed monthly date, at a correspondingly reduced tariff. 

Impact on Stakeholders

• Consumers who don't need data: The Telecom Consumers Protection (Thirteenth Amendment) Regulations, 2026 is likely to benefit subscribers who rely on feature phones, use a secondary SIM purely for calls and texts, or access data through Wi-Fi or another connection. These users would no longer be limited to data-bundled STVs priced for data usage they don't need, a standalone Voice-and-SMS STV, matched in validity to the operator's existing data plans, becomes a mandatory option.
• Telecom service providers: Operators will need to review and expand their STV portfolios to ensure a Voice-and-SMS-only equivalent exists for every validity period at which they currently offer combined Voice+SMS+data STVs, including short (sub-30-day) and longer-than-30-day options. This may require changes to billing systems, recharge platforms, and tariff filings to accommodate the fixed monthly renewal-date requirement.
• Elderly and rural subscribers: Segments of users who have historically found data-inclusive recharges to be the only available option, particularly in low-connectivity or feature-phone-heavy markets, stand to gain a clearer, lower-cost Voice-and-SMS pathway with predictable monthly renewal dates.

Key Takeaways

• The amendment targets sub-clause (iii) of regulation 4(2)(c) of the 2012 Regulations, replacing only the fourth proviso.
• Telecom operators must offer Voice-and-SMS-only STVs matching every validity period (both under and equal to thirty days, and at least one longer period) at which they offer Voice+SMS+data STVs.
• These Voice-and-SMS-only STVs must renew on a fixed date each month, defaulting to the last day of the month where that date doesn't exist.
• The regulation takes effect thirty days after its publication in the Official Gazette.