TRAI draft rule would require voice-and-SMS-only telco plans
- TRAI proposed in the draft Telecom Consumer Protection (Thirteenth Amendment) Regulation, 2026 that every telecom operator must offer at least one special tariff voucher for voice calling and SMS only.
- The proposal targets users who do not need bundled mobile data and would require a dedicated non-data option from each telco.
- TRAI said operators had issued only a few such plans with longer validity before this draft proposal.
TRAI proposed in the draft Telecom Consumer Protection (Thirteenth Amendment) Regulation, 2026 that every telecom operator in India must offer at least one special tariff voucher exclusively for voice calling and SMS services. The proposal would create a mandatory non-data plan option for subscribers who do not want bundled data services.
TRAI said the draft regulation mandates at least one voice-and-SMS-only special tariff voucher from each telco. According to the source, operators had issued only a few such plans with longer validity before this proposal.
The proposal sits within India’s telecom consumer protection framework rather than device or eSIM standards. For the eSIM market, the measure is relevant because eSIM users on Indian mobile networks would still depend on operator tariff structures, including whether mobile network operators (MNOs, operators that own and run mobile networks) provide separate plans for voice, SMS, and data.
Related Questions
- Will Indian telcos have to offer voice-and-SMS-only plans?
- Yes. TRAI proposed in its draft Telecom Consumer Protection (Thirteenth Amendment) Regulation, 2026 that every telco must offer at least one special tariff voucher exclusively for calling and SMS.
- Does the TRAI draft require a non-data mobile plan option?
- Yes. The draft would require each telecom operator to provide at least one tariff voucher that includes only voice and SMS, without bundled data.
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