TRAI aims to increase the availability of cheap voice and SMS-only plans to customers, but the country’s major telecom companies—Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea—have opposed the proposal. The companies argue that it is not practical to separate voice and data services in the existing mobile networks. At the same time, consumer organizations claim that millions of people are paying for data benefits that they do not actually use.
What changes does TRAI want to make?
According to a report in Economic Times, ‘Draft Telecom Consumer Protection (Thirteenth Amendment) Regulations, 2026’ was discussed in TRAI’s open-house session held on June 15. Under this proposal, telecom companies will have to offer voice and SMS recharge plans with different validity periods. TRAI wants these plans to be cheaper than bundled plans with data and to be easily accessible to customers. The regulator believes this will benefit customers who only need calling and messaging services and do not use data services.
Why have Jio, Airtel and Vi raised objection?
According to the report, telecom companies have asked TRAI not to interfere in the tariff design. He argues that the price and structure of the plan should be decided based on market demand. Reliance Jio is reported to have said that modern 4G and 5G networks are based on a unified Internet Protocol (IP) architecture, making it difficult to completely separate voice and data services. The company also expressed concern that low-cost voice and SMS plans could be used for spam and fraud. According to Jio, 88 percent of its entry-level customers use mobile data and there is limited demand for voice-only plans. At the same time, Vodafone Idea said that at least some data is required in the smartphone for activities like background processes, software download and authentication.
What is the argument of consumer organizations? Consumer organizations say that there are still 300 to 350 million feature phone users in the country. Of these, approximately 100 to 150 million customers do not use mobile data services. According to the Consumer Protection Association based in Himmatnagar, Gujarat, these customers are paying for services they do not need. The report claims that this segment spends ₹15,000 crore to ₹20,000 crore every year on unused data benefits. Consumer organizations also pointed out that internet connectivity in remote, hilly and tribal areas is not reliable, yet people are forced to buy plans that include data. They argue that customers opting for entry-level recharge have to pay a higher effective price per GB of data compared to those using premium plans. TRAI will now take a final decision on this proposal after reviewing the suggestions received from all the stakeholders.
