TRAI Mandates Telecom Operators to Offer Specialised Voice and SMS Packs, Benefitting Consumers in Rural Areas

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) issued the twelfth amendment to the Telecom Consumers Protection Regulations on Monday. This mandates telecommunications operators in India to offer specialised recharge vouchers with select services that concerned stakeholders require. Notably, this announcement comes after the government's telecom watchdog held an open house discussion with concerned stakeholders in October, addressing issues such as choice of tariff availability, validity of vouchers, and colour coding of vouchers.

New TRAI Mandate on Recharge Vouchers

TRAI's new regulations mandate telecom operators to offer standalone Special Tariff Vouchers (STVs) specifically for voice and SMS services. This move will give consumers an option to pay for the services that they require. As per the watchdog, its twelfth amendment will benefit consumers from certain segments, such as senior citizens and those residing in rural areas.

It also extends the validity period of STV and Combo Vouchers (CV) to 365 days, compared to the previous cap of just 90 days to benefit consumers, enabling them to opt for long-term plans.

As per the notice, the government watchdog is doing away with the requirement of colour-coded vouchers in favour of online recharges. Further, it also lifts the reservation on top-up voucher denominations, which were previously restricted to denominations of Rs. 10. Telecom operators can now offer vouchers as per their own denomination choices. However, they are still required to provide at least one top-up voucher of Rs. 10 denomination.

TRAI says amendments have been made in definitions of STV and CV in the Telecommunication Tariff Order (1999) to align with the amendments made in the Telecom Consumers Protection Regulations.

Other Recent Changes

TRAI has enforced several guidelines in recent months. In August, the telecom watchdog issued a directive to all network providers, asking them to stop promotional calls from unregistered callers. Telecom firms operating in India have also been directed to blacklist spam calls.

Last month, it directed service providers to display the geospatial network coverage map, its availability, and the signal strength. This move is aimed at enabling better transparency and uniformity when it comes to providing wireless access service and helping make users more informed decisions.