Trai clarifies on monthly tariff plan, asks telecos to bring 30-day validity recharge in 60 days

Recently, only Reliance Jio had commenced such tariff plans (30-day plan and calendar month validity). The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Thursday released a new order

regarding monthly prepaid tariff plans. It stated that every telecom service provider (TSP) offering at least one ‘Plan Voucher’, one ‘Special Tariff Voucher (STV)’ and one ‘Combo Voucher’

will now be renewable either on the same date of the following month or on the last date of the following month, if a specific date is not available. Telcos have 60 days to comply with the

modified order.    “Every Telecom Service Provider shall offer at least one Plan Voucher, one Special Tariff Voucher and one Combo Voucher which shall be renewable on the same date of every

month and if the date of such renewal is not available in a month, the date of renewal shall be the last date of that month,” the telecom regulator said in an order. In January this year,

TRAI had mandated that every telecom company must include at least one PV, one STV and one CV with 30 days’ validity among its tariff offers. However, the directive had caused confusion

amongst operators who wanted clarity on the relevant renewal dates. TRAI had ordered this directive and had given 60 days for operators to implement the order, and modify their billing

system. Now in its modified order, TRAI has deleted a sub-clause in its January 2022 tariff order that had earlier said the relevant PV, STV and CV “would be renewable only on the same date

of every month”. Recently, Reliance Jio had commenced such tariff plans (30-day plan and calendar month validity). It is the only operator which has implemented this.