TRAI orders Airtel, Jio, Vodafone Idea to launch voice, SMS-only plans for every validity period

India’s telecom regulator TRAI has directed the major telecom operations — Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea to roll out affordable recharge plans offering only voice and SMS services starting October 21, 2026. As reported by the Times of India, this move from the regulator is aimed at low-income users who do not require bundled data services but need flexible, short-term options for calls and messaging. TRAI’s order mandates that telcos provide shorter validity Special Tariff Vouchers (STVs) for voice and SMS, with durations of up to 30 days. Importantly, these plans must allow monthly renewal on the same date each month, defaulting to the last day if the exact date is unavailable. In addition, operators must also offer at least one longer validity voice-SMS plan to match existing bundled offerings.Why TRAI is pushing for voice and SMS-only plansThis isn't TRAI's first attempt at solving this problem. The regulator had already mandated in December 2024 that every telecom operator offer at least one voice-and-SMS-only STV. But TRAI found that outcome insufficient — operators offered only a handful of such plans, often with limited validity options, and crucially, priced them relatively high without reducing costs proportionally to the data being removed. This latest amendment is designed to close that gap by requiring parity across every validity period rather than just one token offering.The regulator's broader reasoning is straightforward: many users — particularly senior citizens, feature-phone users, people who rely on Wi-Fi or a second device for data, and those with second SIMs — don't need mobile data bundled into every recharge, and shouldn't be forced to pay for data they'll never use just to get calling and texting.Telcos pushed back and lostJio, Airtel, and Vodafone Idea had all formally opposed the mandate during TRAI's consultation process, calling it anti-consumer, technically impractical, and inconsistent with the regulator's own policy of tariff forbearance. Jio specifically argued that standalone voice plans are technically incompatible with how modern 4G and 5G networks operate, since voice functions as an application running over an underlying data network on IP-based infrastructure. The company also warned that cheap, short-validity voice-only plans could lower the barrier for scammers, potentially fueling more unsolicited commercial communication and cyber fraud. Jio added that 88% of its entry-level subscribers already actively use data, and that existing voice-only plans have historically seen limited uptake.Vodafone Idea raised a separate concern, warning that stripping data out of plans could expose users to unexpected charges elsewhere. Despite these objections, TRAI proceeded with the mandate, evidently unconvinced that the operators' concerns outweighed the consumer protection rationale behind the rule.What this means for usersOnce implemented, the change should give consumers meaningfully more flexibility than before. Users who mainly rely on calling and texting — or who access the internet through Wi-Fi or a separate device — will be able to pick a voice-and-SMS-only plan matching virtually any validity period they'd normally choose for a data-inclusive plan, at a proportionally lower price. It's also expected to be a practical win for dual-SIM users, who can now dedicate one SIM purely to calls and SMS at a lower cost rather than paying for a redundant data allowance they don't need on that connection.Whether operators price these new mandatory plans generously or find workarounds to limit their appeal, as some consumer advocates have suggested happened after the 2024 mandate, remains to be seen once the October 21 deadline arrives.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.