Trai orders telcos to offer at least one 30-day recharge plan

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has asked the telecom operators to come up with at least a single plan which is renewable on the same date of every month. The regulatory body has also clarified that if the date of such monthly recharge is not available in a month (like February), then the date of renewal shall be the last date of that particular month. The regulator has given 60 days for all carriers to comply with the directive.

“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,” Trai said in a tariff order on 30 March. However, it didn’t clarify a situation when a subscriber recharges on the 31 of a month (like December 31).

At present, telecom service providers offer mobile recharge packages with validities of 24/ 28/ 56/ 84 days, among others. As a result, there is no recharge option that lasts for a month of 30/31 days.

TRAI, in its previous order, had recommended the telcos operating in the country to at least offer one ‘30-day prepaid plan’ for their customers. It had even instructed the operators to ensure that users get a plan with which they can recharge on the same date every month. This move was bound to reduce the number of recharges done by a user in a year thus impacting the bottomlines of Airtel, Vodafone Idea, Reliance Jio, etc.