Now you will not have to pay for useless data, rules will change from April 28, will you get cheap call plans or will the expenses increase?

Cheap Calling Plans For Mobile Recharge: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued a big order for telecom companies. All operators will have to change their tariff systems by 28 April 2026. Under the new rule, it will be mandatory to provide voice and SMS-only plans for every validity.

Not only this, it will also be necessary to clearly display these plans on the website, mobile app and retail stores. This means that now as many data + call plans are available, the same number of options will be available only for calls and SMS also.

Will the plans really be cheap?

According to TRAI’s draft notification, voice-only plans with the same validity as the existing data+voice+SMS plans will also have to be launched. Their price is subject to “largely proportional reduction” It will be decided on the basis of data, that is, the price will be lower if the data is removed. This step is especially a relief for those users who do not need internet, but are forced to buy expensive data plans.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

Who will get the most benefit?

TRAI says that there are a large number of people in the country who do not need data. These include:

• elderly consumer
• people from rural areas
• low income group
• feature phone users

If this rule applies:

• Consumers will be able to choose the cheapest plan as per their need.
• The problem of forced purchase of data will end.
• Those with low budget will get direct relief

The hit to your pocket may increase

While on one hand this decision may provide relief, on the other hand the concern has also increased. Telecom companies currently work on a bundled pricing model, where data revenue keeps voice services affordable. If voice and data are completely separated, companies can make data plans expensive. This will affect those users who use both calls and internet.

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Direct interference in tariff after 20 years

Tariff forbearance policy was in force in India since 2004, in which companies had the freedom to decide their own plans. For this reason, India remained among the cheapest mobile data markets in the world. But now this step of TRAI is different from this policy. For the first time after so many years, the regulator is seen directly intervening in the tariff structure.

Will this affect Digital India?

Experts believe that if data plans become expensive, it may affect the digital expansion of the country. as well as:

• Pressure on companies’ earnings may increase
• Network investment may slow down
• Innovation may be affected