The biggest problem these days in mobile recharge is that a plan without data is not available. Not only this, only 28 days are available in the name of validity of a month. TRAI has said that now these companies will have to bring plans without data. This means that in the coming time, cheaper plans can be seen and the validity can also be full.
If you do not use internet on your mobile or use very little data, then there is big news for you. TRAI has implemented a new rule, after which Jio, Airtel, Vi and other telecom operators will have to provide more options only for calls and SMS. The price of these plans will have to be kept lower than the data plans. This means that in future there will be no need to pay money for data to those people who do not need it.
Mobile recharge has changed a lot in the last few years. Today, calling, SMS and data are available together in the popular plans of most companies. Even if a user just wants to make calls, he or she often has to choose a pack that includes data. Now TRAI i.e. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has issued a new rule to overcome this problem.
TRAI has released the Telecom Consumer Protection Regulation 2026 on 21 September 2026. However, this rule will not be implemented immediately. According to official rules, it will come into effect 30 days after its publication in the official gazette.
Now you will get cheap recharge only with call-SMS
The biggest impact of the new rule will be that if a telecom company sells a plan for a specific period which includes Voice, SMS and Data, then it will have to offer voice and SMS-only plans for the same period.
That means, if a company has a plan with calling + SMS + data for 28 days, then it will have to offer an option without data for the same period. If the company sells data-bundled plans with second validity of 30 days or less, then Voice-SMS-only option will have to be offered for that period also.
The most important thing here is the price. TRAI has clearly said that in these voice and SMS-only STVs i.e. Special Tariff Vouchers, the appropriate price will have to be reduced according to the removal of data. This does not mean that TRAI has fixed any fixed price. For example, it has not been said that the 28 day calling plan should now be only Rs 100. Companies can decide their price, but after removing the data, the price will have to be reduced appropriately.
What was the problem now?
TRAI has also given the reason behind its new rule. In December 2024, TRAI had made it mandatory for companies to provide at least one voice and SMS-only STV. After this, companies like Jio, Airtel, Vi launched such plans, but according to TRAI their number was very less. Most Voice-SMS-only plans had long validity like around 80/84 days or 336/365 days. Small recharge options were not available. On the other hand, customers were getting different types of validity in data plans.
This is the reason why customers who only want phone calls or SMS were left with only two options. Either go for an expensive long-term Voice-SMS-only plan or go for a plan that includes data even if you don't need the data.
TRAI has admitted in its document that due to this, options had become limited especially for low income people, customers in rural areas, elderly people and feature phone users.