TRAI Notifies Telecom Consumer Protection (Thirteenth Amendment) Regulations, 2026 Mandating Voice and SMS-Only Plans

Exam-focused facts from the 24 September 2026 current affairs briefing.

Key facts

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released the Telecom Consumer Protection (Thirteenth Amendment) Regulations, 2026 on September 22, 2026, concerning Special Tariff Vouchers (STVs) for voice and SMS services.
Telecom service providers (TSPs) must now offer voice and SMS-only STVs with validities matching each validity period of 30 days and less than 30 days available for bundled voice, SMS and data STVs.
TSPs must provide at least one voice and SMS-only STV with validity renewable on the same date each month, or on the last day of the month if that date is unavailable.
The mandated voice and SMS-only STVs must carry an appropriate and largely proportional reduction in tariff compared with bundled plans.