The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has directed Reliance Jio, the country’s largest telecom operator by market share, to discontinue certain tariff practices flagged as lacking transparency and being discriminatory. The regulator has reportedly asked the company to align its offerings with established norms, setting April 14 as the deadline for compliance, according to multiple media reports, including Mint and Business Standard, dated April 4, 2026.
Reliance Jio, which serves over 500 million subscribers, has reportedly defended its tariff structure, stating that its plans adhere to regulatory guidelines and are based on “intelligible criteria.” The company reportedly told the regulator that its offerings cannot be treated as discriminatory.
Key Directives Issued to Reliance Jio
TRAI has reportedly issued two key directives to the operator. First, Jio must publish and make all tariff plans— including special tariff vouchers (STVs) priced at Rs 249, Rs 199, and Rs 209—available across all customer touchpoints, such as retail outlets, customer care centres, its website, and mobile application. Second, the company has been instructed to restructure its device-specific tariff plans, currently limited to JioBharat and JioPhone users, to make them available for all other devices as well.
JioBharat and JioPhone are affordable 4G feature phones from Reliance Jio that come with special recharge plans.
Probe Triggered by Limited Access Plans
According to the reports, the directive follows a probe initiated in August 2025 after Jio discontinued certain entry-level prepaid plans offering 1 GB of daily data, which were reportedly accessible only through its own retail stores. The investigation found that some STVs priced at Rs 249 and Rs 199 were restricted to Jio Stores, while a Rs 209 STV was exclusively available via the MyJio app, raising concerns over selective availability.
Device-Specific Tariffs Under Scrutiny
TRAI also reportedly flagged the company’s device-specific tariffs for JioBharat and JioPhone—low-cost 4G feature phones—as a “violation of the principle of non-discrimination.” The regulator emphasised that restricting tariff benefits to specific devices limits consumer choice and effectively binds users to particular offerings, undermining mobile number portability.
In its communication to Jio, TRAI reportedly noted that the non-offering of special tariff plans across all platforms violates transparency requirements outlined in its earlier directions issued on September 18, 2020, which call on operators to publish tariff plans on all platforms for users.
According to TRAI’s letter, Jio told the regulator in November last year that the 2020 directions were “issued by the Authority strictly on tariff publication and not on how and where the tariffs should be sold," the reports highlighted.
On JioBharat tariff plans, Jio reportedly told TRAI that these plans are not available to any other class of Jio users using other devices and thus, this distinction is not “arbitrary” as it is based on the “intelligible” criteria.
Rejecting Jio’s arguments, TRAI asserted that limited access to specific plans forces consumers to visit different channels for different plans, which is against the principles of the Telecommunication Tariff Order, 1999. The regulator also dismissed the company’s justification regarding first-time recharge limitations, stating that such constraints apply only to initial SIM acquisition.
Further, TRAI reportedly observed that device-specific tariffs are not being adequately reported in the operator’s monthly submissions, and termed such offerings disadvantageous to consumers. It added that restricting plans to specific devices could effectively lock users into a network for the lifetime of the device, reducing flexibility.
Regulatory Risks and Potential Penalties
Under the TRAI Act, 1997, failure to comply with regulatory directions can attract penalties of up to Rs 1 lakh for the first offence and Rs 2 lakh for subsequent violations. Continued non-compliance may invite additional fines.
