TRAI requires voice-and-SMS-only vouchers for 30-day and shorter plans

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has told operators to offer voice-and-SMS-only vouchers next to the short packs they already sell with data. The Times of India and India Today reported that TRAI notified the Telecom Consumers Protection (Thirteenth Amendment) Regulations, 2026, on 22 September 2026.

The Times of India listed what the amendment requires. Operators must offer voice-and-SMS-only special tariff vouchers for every validity of 30 days, and for every validity under 30 days, where they already sell a bundled voucher of voice, SMS and data. They must offer a voice-and-SMS-only voucher that renews on the same date each month. They must also offer at least one longer-validity voice-and-SMS-only voucher, matching the validity of the bundled plans. India Today reported the same notification more briefly: operators must issue vouchers for voice calls and SMS only, on the lines of existing bundles, with a validity of 30 days or less. The Times of India is the account that also spells out the under-30-day vouchers, the same-date monthly voucher, and the longer voice-and-SMS-only voucher.

The Times of India said the voice-and-SMS-only vouchers must come with an appropriate reduction in tariff. India Today reported them as lower-cost vouchers. Neither paper gives a rupee price. The reports also do not say that data plans are being withdrawn, or that a subscriber has to buy a voice-only pack.

The Times of India reported a consultation of 1,132 responses. TRAI said the changes were meant to give low-income users more affordable short-duration choices, and room to recharge according to what they need and what they can pay. The paper said the framework builds on earlier voice-and-SMS-only provisions. It said TRAI describes those plans as prepaid voice and SMS without data, for people who do not need internet on the phone.

Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha welcomed the step in a video. Both papers reported the video as his reaction. India Today said he had raised prepaid users' complaints in the Budget session on 11 March. The Times of India said he had objected to 28-day cycles and to the lack of a voice-only option. It quoted him: "There are 12 months in a year, but prepaid users have to recharge 13 times. Why is there a monthly recharge of 28 days? 30-days validity plans should be introduced." He said people who do not want data, including senior citizens and low-budget users who mainly make calls, should get voice-only plans for incoming and outgoing calls. India Today quoted the same 13-recharge point and his call for voice-only plans for people who do not use data.

He also gave the decision a political reading. Both papers quoted him calling it "a perfect example of constructive politics." India Today added: "I hope we continue to solve the real problems of real India together like this." It quoted him saying the government has accepted "your (people's) plan." That is his description. The regulator's step, in these reports, is the 22 September notification requiring the vouchers. His video does not add a separate rule, and it does not set a price.

The 13-recharge line is his arithmetic about plans that last 28 days. The amendment, as The Times of India reported it, requires the voice-and-SMS-only options at 30 days and at shorter validities, plus a voucher that renews on the same calendar date. It does not, in these reports, abolish every 28-day data plan.

What's next

The notification is dated 22 September 2026. The reports say what operators must offer. They give no later date for the vouchers to appear, and no rupee fare. The size of the reduction stays unknown until an operator publishes one. Chadha's remarks stay a reaction to that notification.