…then the era of cheap recharge plans will return! What is TRAI’s new proposal?

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India i.e. TRAI has released a consultation paper. The agency has released a consultation paper on ‘Review of Telecom Consumer Protection Regulation (TCPR) 2012’. The agency has sought feedback from stakeholders on this. This consultation paper can prove to be very important for the common people.

Actually, the stakeholders have been asked for their opinion on bringing back voice and SMS packs. If you look at the current recharge portfolio, you will find most of the plans focused on data. That means whether the user needs data or not, he has to buy it.

What does TRAI say?

In such a situation, TRAI has sought the opinion of companies on bringing back plans with only calling and SMS. The agency said, ‘It is seen that most of the bundled tariff plans available in the market are combined options of voice, data, SMS and OTT services, which do not meet the needs of a large number of subscribers.’

Also read: Budget 2024: Mobile recharge plans may get more expensive, 5G rollout will be delayed now!

‘There is a perception that subscribers are being forced to pay for services that are not necessary for them.’ TRAI has said this in its consultation paper. Along with this, TRAI has also proposed to telecom operators to issue color coding of vouchers.

Will every plan have a different colour?

Earlier, telecom companies used to release top-up, combo and other plans in different colours. For example, top-ups used to come in green colour, while blue colour was used for combo packs. This helped consumers to know which recharge was for whom.

Also read: The cheapest recharge plans of Jio, Airtel and Vi, which will get one year validity

TRAI has asked telecom companies whether color coding would be the right step in digital medium. TRAI has sought written response on this consultation paper from stakeholders by 16 August 2024. Any counter response on this can be filed by 23 August 2024.

Through the consultation paper, TRAI seeks the opinion of all stakeholders on any issue. This does not mean that any such rule or order is going to be issued. In such a situation, the agency has only sought the opinion of the stakeholders on voice and SMS plans. Such plans are rarely available now.

If telecom companies offer plans with only calling and SMS, then their price will definitely be low. We can still see some such plans, which offer unlimited voice calling and SMS along with limited data. The price of these plans is much less than the plans with daily data.