Telecom Service Providers Shall Offer Special Tariff Voucher Exclusively For Voice & SMS
FinTech BizNews Service
Mumbai, April 7, 2026: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) today released the Draft Telecom Consumer Protection (Thirteenth Amendment) Regulation, 2026.
TRAI had earlier issued Telecom Consumer Protection (twelfth Amendment) Regulation, 2024 wherein the Authority mandated that every telecom service provider shall offer at least one Special Tariff Voucher exclusively for Voice and SMS. Subsequent to this, it is observed that only a few Special Tariff Vouchers (STVs) are being offered for Voice and SMS.
Thereafter, several representations have been received, expressing a need for shorter-duration Voice and SMS only packs.
Hence, the Authority considers it necessary to address this issue by mandating that for every unique validity period offered under Special Tariff Vouchers with Voice, SMS and Data, the service provider shall also offer a corresponding Special Tariff Voucher exclusively for Voice and SMS. Such Special Tariff Vouchers shall be priced with largely proportional reduction in tariff.
The Draft Telecom Consumer Protection (Thirteenth Amendment) Regulation, 2026 has been placed on TRAI’s website (www.trai.gov.in). Stakeholders are requested to provide their written comments by 28th April, 2026. Comments may be submitted electronically to Shri Vijay Kumar, Advisor (Financial & Economic Analysis), TRAI, at fea1-div@trai.gov.in.
For any clarification/information, Advisor (F&EA) may be contacted at Tel No. 011-20907773.
