NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Tuesday released the Telecom Consumer Protection (Thirteenth Amendment) Regulations, 2026, mandating telecom service providers to offer more Special Tariff Voucher (STV) options exclusively for voice and SMS services.
The amendment follows TRAI’s observation that the availability of voice-and-SMS-only STVs remained limited, with most such vouchers concentrated around longer validity periods. The regulator said this reduced affordable shorter-duration choices, particularly for low-income consumers.
TRAI had issued the draft amendment for consultation on April 7, 2026. It received 1,132 responses from stakeholders and subsequently held an Open House Discussion on June 15 before finalising the regulations.
Three categories of voice-and-SMS-only STVs
Under the amended framework, telecom service providers will be required to offer voice-and-SMS-only STVs with appropriate tariff reductions corresponding to the validity periods of their existing Voice, SMS and Data STVs.
The mandated options will include:
- STVs with validity periods of 30 days and less than 30 days corresponding to the validity periods offered for Voice, SMS and Data STVs.
- STVs renewable on the same date every month. Where that date is unavailable in a particular month, renewal will take place on the last date of that month.
- At least one voice-and-SMS-only STV with a validity longer than the shorter and monthly validity options, corresponding to a longer-validity Voice, SMS and Data STV offered by the service provider.
More flexibility for consumers
TRAI said the revised tariff framework is intended to provide consumers with greater flexibility to choose recharge plans according to their requirements and financial capacity.
The regulator particularly expects the changes to benefit consumers who need voice and SMS services but do not want to pay for data bundled into their recharge plans.
The amendment has been placed on the TRAI website for public access.
For clarifications: Vijay Kumar, Advisor (F&EA), TRAI — 011-20907773; fea1-div@trai.gov.in.
