NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has directed telecom service providers to offer separate special tariff vouchers (STVs) for voice calls and SMS services.
With this change, telcos such as Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea, and Bharti Airtel are now required to offer tariff plans that include only voice and SMS services, not necessarily bundled with data.
The TRAI has introduced these amendments to the telecommunication tariff order (TTO) and the Telecom Consumers Protection Regulations (TCPR). This change will allow consumers to pay only for the services they use, offering greater flexibility in telecom spending. The move is beneficial for rural users and elderly, who may predominantly use voice and SMS services and may not require data services.
Introduction of these vouchers aims to cater to users who prioritise voice communication, offering them a cost-effective solution without the need for data features. The TRAI said the change is beneficial for elderly people, especially in rural areas, who do not use data services due to limited understanding of technology. Families with broadband at home may also find it burdensome to pay for data services that they don’t require.
Moreover, data collected from telcos indicate about 150 million users still rely on feature phones, highlighting a continuing demand for voice and SMS-only plans, as these users typically require basic telecomm services.
The new regulations introduce an extension of the validity period for STVs and combo vouchers. The validity period has been raised from the previous 90 days to 365 days, giving users more flexibility in how they recharge their accounts. TRAI has done away with the colour coding of vouchers, which was earlier used for physical forms, in response to the growing prominence of online recharges.