Mobile users can now opt for voice and SMS recharges without data charges

The data from telecom operators reveals that a whopping 150 million users in India still use feature phones that highlights the need for the non-data-specific recharge options

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has mandated telecom companies to offer recharge plans exclusively for voice calls and messages without any compulsion to buy internet data. The TRAI announced these changes in the Telecom Consumer Protection (12th Amendment) Regulation 2024 on Monday. 

 

The move is aimed at providing tailored options for millions of consumers who do not need data for various reasons. According to the reports, in India, nearly 150 million people are 2G users, dual-SIM owners, elderly individuals and rural residents. The move will allow users to pay only for the service they need rather than paying for the data they don’t need. Furthermore, new rules also mandated telecom operators to extend the validity of special recharge coupons from the present 90 days to as long as 356 days. 

   

“...the service provider shall offer at least one Special Tariff Voucher exclusively for voice and SMS with validity period not exceeding three hundred and sixty-five days,” TRAI mentioned in the Telecom Consumers Protection (Twelfth Amendment) Regulations, 2024.

150 million users don’t need data recharges

According to the TRAI, the data from telecom operators reveals that a whopping 150 million users in India still use feature phones that highlights the need for non-data specific recharge options. 

 

TRAI’s consultation revealed that many users, including senior citizens, families with home broadband, and non-tech-savvy individuals, prefer voice and SMS without bundled data. This feedback led to mandating voice-and-SMS-only plans.

 

“It is also observed that mandating Voice and SMS only STV will provide an option to subscribers who do not require data, and this in any way will not reverse the government initiative of data inclusion as service providers are at liberty to offer bundled offers and data only vouchers,” TRAI mentioned in its explanatory note. 

 

TRAI has introduced greater flexibility in recharge values, allowing telecom operators to issue recharge vouchers of any denomination, while still mandating a minimum recharge option of Rs 10. Previously, recharge amounts were limited to Rs 10 and its multiples.

TRAI’s move may harm Jio and Airtel’s interests

TRAI’s initiative favours consumer choice but runs counter to the interests of telecom giants like Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, which are focused on encouraging users to shift from 2G to 4G or 5G. These companies aim to boost Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) by offering bundled packages of unlimited data and voice services.

 

Reliance Jio earlier termed 2G as a barrier to India’s digital growth and had called for its phase-out. Mukesh Ambani recently pointed out how 5G adoption will free up 4G capacity, thereby attracting the remaining 2G users to 4G.

 

Under Sunil Mittal, Bharti Airtel is aggressively migrating 2G users to 4G, while Vodafone Idea is expanding its 4G network to speed up the shift.