Trai mandates voice, SMS-only tariff plans despite Jio, Airtel, Vi opposition

Mumbai: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has mandated telecom operators to offer affordable tariff plans for consumers seeking voice and SMS services without bundled data, despite opposition from operators.

The regulator on Monday released the Telecom Consumer Protection (Thirteenth Amendment) Regulations, 2026. Under the new rules, operators will have to offer special tariff vouchers (STVs) for voice and SMS with validity periods corresponding to each 30-day period and periods shorter than 30 days. They will also have to offer a voice-and-SMS STV that can be renewed on the same date every month.

In addition, operators will have to offer at least one such STV with a validity longer than these periods.


The decision follows opposition from Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea during the consultation process. The operators argued that mandatory voice-and-SMS-only plans would be counterproductive.

Jio argued that standalone voice plans were technically incompatible with modern 4G and 5G networks, which are built on internet protocol networks where voice operates as an application over the underlying data network. It also warned that cheap, short-validity voice plans could lower the cost barrier for scammers and increase unsolicited commercial communications and fraud.

Jio said 88% of its entry-level users actively consume data and that existing voice-only plans have limited uptake.

Vodafone Idea warned that removing data from plans could expose users to unexpected charges. Background data consumption for activities such as software updates and OTP verification could trigger pay-as-you-go charges and result in bill shocks.

Airtel said voice-only packs could create a structurally data-excluded segment at a time when India’s digital public infrastructure is increasingly mobile-first.

Consumer groups, however, argued that the existing tariff structure forces millions of users who either do not need or cannot reliably use mobile data to pay for bundled data services.

According to the Consumer Protection Association, Himmatnagar in Gujarat has 300-350 million feature-phone users, of whom 100-150 million do not use data services. These consumers spend an estimated Rs 15,000-20,000 crore annually on data services they do not use.

They also said that in many tribal and hilly areas, telecom towers fail to function, yet consumers are forced to buy data packs they cannot use. The cost of data per GB in the lowest entry-level packs, at Rs 94-99 per GB, is also much higher than the unit costs in premium plans, they said.

The regulation follows Trai’s earlier consultation on the issue after the regulator observed that voice-and-SMS-only STVs had become limited following the implementation of the Telecom Consumer Protection (Twelfth Amendment) Regulations, 2024

The draft amendment was released for consultation on April 7, followed by an open-house discussion on June 15.