The telecom regulator has directed mobile operators to offer voice-and-SMS-only tariff plans, without data, valid for 30 daysor less. The order gives low-usage subscribers a cheaper recharge option, and marks its second attempt in two years to fix a gap operators had only partly addressed, explains Ojasvi Gupta.
What has Trai directed telecom operators to do?
THE TELECOM REGULATORY Authority of India (Trai) has amended the Telecom Consumer Protection Regulations, 2024, requiring operators to offer voice-and-SMS-only tariff plans, without bundled data, with a validity not exceeding 30 days, to ensure that consumers who don’t need data can have access to more affordable and shorter duration options. They will also have to provide a plan that can be renewed on the same date every month. Prices for these standalone plans must carry what the regulation calls an ‘appropriate reduction in tariff’ relative to the equivalent data-inclusive plan. It also said that voice-and-SMS plans are not being prominently displayed by telcos at all customer touchpoints such as websites, apps, retail outlets, etc., leading to low consumer awareness and lower uptake, and urged them to change this. It said the change is intended to give low-income subscribers, feature-phone users and consumers with existing broadband connections the ability to pay only for the services they use, rather than being confined to longer-duration vouchers structured around data allowances.
Why has Trai issued this order at this stage?
TRAI FIRST MANDATED voice-and-SMS-only plans in 2024, but operators mostly offered these with longer validities, typically 80-84 days or 336-365 days that did not serve subscribers seeking a short-term, affordable recharge. A subsequent draft proposal in April 2026 sought to address pricing, requiring operators to offer a proportionately priced, data-free equivalent for every validity period available under bundled plans. The latest order responds to the comments received on the proposal and has mandated shorter validity outright, on the basis that low-income and rural consumers require more frequent, smaller-value recharges rather than a single longer-duration voucher. Trai has described the measure as consumer protection, stating that it enables subscribers to recharge as per actual usage and financial capacity.
What this mean for subscribers
SUBSCRIBERS WITH LIMITED or no need for mobile data, such as elderly users, feature-phone owners and those maintaining a second SIM, would gain access to a shorter, lower-priced plan. Rather than paying for a data allowance they do not use in order to obtain a month of voice-and-SMS service, such subscribers can now buy a voucher priced closer to the actual cost of providing voice and text messaging services. However, short-duration plans may lead to a spurt in spam calls as unscrupulous users can easily discard a calling number and take another.
Meanwhile, the regulator is of the view that data services may be offered as per consumer choice rather than forced on users, and there is much demand for such Special Tariff Voucher (STVs). While telcos have said that if sufficient demand existed for these STVs across all validity periods they would already be offering them, Trai countered it by attributing the limited uptake of these tariff plans as a reflection of a gap in the current market offerings.
How have telcos responded?
RELIANCE JIO, BHARTI Airtel and Vodafone Idea have opposed the measure, having raised objections when Trai first floated the underlying proposal earlier this year. Their principal argument is that tariff design falls under forbearance, meaning pricing and plan structure should remain an operator decision rather than a regulatory one, and that this order extends regulatory control further into that domain.
Jio has argued that since voice services function as applications over IP-based data networks on 4G and 5G, a fully data-free product is technically difficult to deliver, and has warned that low-cost, short-validity connections could be misused for spam or fraud. Airtel has said that removing data could undermine digital adoption, saying that “taking away the benefit of data” could in turn deprive consumers of digital empowerment. Meanwhile, Vodafone Idea has said that data-free packs could discourage some users from adopting digital services.
Possible impact on revenues of telcos
INDUSTRY ANALYSTS EXPECT a measurable but limited financial impact. This includes some erosion in Average Revenue Per User (ARPU), concentrated among light-data users, elderly subscribers and second-SIM holders likely to shift to the lower-cost voucher, given that approximately 90% of India’s mobile connections are prepaid, making recharge frequency as commercially significant as recharge value. This may be partly offset by the same vouchers retaining price-sensitive subscribers and dormant second SIMs that might otherwise have lapsed. Sector data cited by Deloitte shows data consumption per subscriber rose approximately 20% year-on-year, while data revenue per user remained near Rs 200 a month, and revenue per gigabyte declined to Rs 7.51 in March 2026 from Rs 9.11 a year earlier, indicating rising consumption is not converting proportionately into revenue. Analysts expect telcos to increasingly rely on tariff increases and premium data products for future growth.