TRAI New Rules: More Voice-and-SMS-Only Recharge Plans for Mobile Users; Check TOP Changes

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has introduced new rules asking telecom operators to provide more prepaid recharge options that include only voice calls and SMS, without a data pack.

According to the TRAI Officials Release, "Under the Telecom Consumer Protection (Thirteenth Amendment) Regulations, 2026, telecom service providers will have to offer voice-and-SMS-only Special Tariff Vouchers (STVs) corresponding to the validity periods of their bundled voice, SMS and data plans."

TRAI's New Rules All Details

Earlier people had to purchase expensive packs since the option for cheaper recharge options were very few. Now TRAI has asked telecom operators to provide consumers with more choices for prepaid recharges that offer calling and messaging without requiring them to pay for data services they may not use.

Three Main Changes Under TRAI's New Rules

1. Voice-and-SMS Plans for Shorter Validities. For every bundled Special Tariff Voucher offering voice, SMS and data with a validity of 30 days or less, telecom operators must offer a corresponding voice-and-SMS-only voucher with the same validity.

2. At least one voice-and-SMS-only STV must allow consumers to renew their recharge on the same calendar date every month.

3. Telecom operators must also offer at least one voice-and-SMS-only STV with a longer validity. The longer-validity option must correspond to the longer validity periods offered under bundled voice, SMS and data STVs

New Recharge Plans Be Priced

After the new TRAI rules, voice-and-SMS-only plans will have an appropriate tariff reduction compared with data-bundled plans.
The draft regulation says that the price reduction should be proportional to the removal of data services from the bundled voucher so that consumers receive a meaningful price difference when choosing a plan without data

However, there is no specific recharge price announcement for individual telecom operators. Consumers can check the plans once their service providers release them.