Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea (Vi) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) have been mandated by the telecom regulatory body to now offer SMS and voice only STVs (special tariff vouchers). At present, no such plans with active service validity is available for consumers. Thus, with Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, consumers have to pay approximately Rs 200 just to keep their SIM active. Then there are other set of users, who want longer-term validity, but not data. These customers also have to pay money for data which they essentially didn't want to use.
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Jio, Airtel, Vi and BSNL SMS and Voice Only Packs to Come Soon
TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India), in an order on December 23, 2024, has mandated the telcos to give customers STVs for voice and SMS so that the consumers can pay for services they actually want. Note that this means a big difference on the business of the telecom operators. Whether these changes will be applicable to all sets of customers or not is something we will have to wait and see. For now, our assumption is that this change will be applicable for all and in the coming days, we will see such plans coming into offer. But this is not all. This is where things get interesting.
Here's the definition of STVs in TRAI's website - "“Special Tariff Voucher” or “STV” means a paper voucher or electronic voucher, which on activation alters one or more items of applicable tariff in the consumer tariff plan for a particular period in terms of limited or unlimited usage of voice calls, SMS or Data but does not provide any monetary value."
Now according to this, what we understand is that for an STV to work, you need a base active recharge. We could be wrong, but this is what this likely means. Upon further clarity, we will bring more details around this here. But there are more changes which you should know about, read them below.
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TRAI Removes Cap on Validity from STVs and Combo Vouchers
TRAI has removed the cap on validity of 90 days for STV and combo vouchers and set it at 365 days. This will benefit the consumers, if there are plans that come with SMS and voice only benefits and carry a validity of one year.
Also, colour coding of vouchers is now not mandatory for the telcos as majority of the consumers are now recharging their mobile plans via intenet. TRAI has also said that telcos no longer need to offer talktime vouchers in the multiples of Rs 10. However, there will have to be at least one top-up voucher of Rs 10. Post that, it is in the telco's hands how they want to price these top-up vouchers.
