TRAI releases the Draft Telecom Consumer Protection (13th Amendment); Feedback open till 28th April
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) yesterday released the Draft Telecom Consumer Protection (13th Amendment), proposing Voice & SMS-only packs across all validity periods.
#TRAI has released the Draft Telecom Consumer Protection (13th Amendment) Regulations, 2026 proposing Voice & SMS-only packs across all validity periods, giving consumers more choice & avoiding forced data bundling.
Share comments by 28 April '26.
Details: https://t.co/a1Hwxi2Hws pic.twitter.com/X7nHuob3QU— TRAI (@TRAI) April 8, 2026
Earlier, TRAI issued instructions for the telecom companies to introduce SMS and voice-only packs for consumers who don’t need internet benefits. It is now noted that while Telecom Service Providers offer Special Tariff Vouchers (STVs) with Voice, SMS and Data across multiple validity periods, corresponding options exclusively for Voice and SMS are not made available for the same validities.
This led consumers who do not require data to buy the bundled packs containing data. Therefore, TRAI has proposed that the service provider shall offer Special Tariff Vouchers, exclusively for Voice and SMS, with the validity period corresponding to each validity period of Special Tariff vouchers being offered by them for Voice, SMS and data, whether with or without value-added services.
Also, such Voice and SMS STVs shall be priced with a largely proportional reduction in tariff compared to STVs of corresponding validity with SMS, Voice and data.
Currently, this is only a draft proposal, and feedbacks are open till 28th April. If this draft gets approval, then consumers will get to see more recharge options, and plans without data benefits will be cheaper, which means it could be a big move for consumers.
