TRAI direction F. No. RG-10/(1)/2025-ADV_FEA-1 · 27 Mar 2026
Official title
Direction regarding publication of tariff offers etc. to M/s Reliance Jio lnfocomm Ltd
Official record
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Check the official recordThe Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has directed Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (RJIL) to ensure full compliance with its 2020 tariff publication mandate. The Authority determined that RJIL's practice of restricting certain Special Tariff Vouchers (STVs) to specific retail or digital channels violates transparency requirements. Additionally, TRAI found that RJIL's device-specific tariff plans for JioPhone and JioBharat are discriminatory, as they restrict consumer choice and hinder mobile number portability. RJIL is required to make all tariff offerings, including STV 249, STV 199, and STV 209, available across all platforms—including customer care centers, points of sale, retail outlets, websites, and apps—and must transition its device-specific tariffs to a device-neutral model. Compliance must be reported within 21 days.
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Key dates
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TELECOM REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA Government of India
Dated: 24.03.2026
DIRECTION
Subject: Direction under section 13, read with sub-clauses (i) and (v) of clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 11, of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, 1997 (24of1997) regarding publication of tariff offers etc.
F. No. RG-10/(1)/2025-ADV_FEA-1: Whereas the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (hereinafter referred to as the "Authority"), established under sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 (24 of 1997) (hereinafter referred to as the "TRAI Act, 1997"), has been entrusted with discharge of certain functions, inter alia, to regulate the telecommunication services; to ensure compliance of terms and conditions of license; to protect interest of service providers and the consumers of telecommunication service; to promote and ensure orderly growth of the telecom sector;
And whereas in exercise of the power conferred upon it under sub-section (2) of section 11 of the TRAI Act, 1997, the Authority has notified the Telecom Tariff Order, 1999 and clause 9 of the said Tariff Order, inter-alia, provides that tariffs to be charged by service providers from subscribers for telecommunication services along with the conditions thereof shall be published in such manner as the Authority may from time to time direct;
And whereas the Authority, in exercise of the powers conferred upon it under section 13, read with sub-clauses (i) and (v) of clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 11 , of the TRAI Act, 1997 and clause 9 of the Telecommunication Tariff Order, 1999, issued Direction No. 301-16/2019-F&EA dated 18.09.2020 (hereinafter referred to as the "Direction") on tariff publications directing all telecom service providers , inter a/ia, to----
(a) publish each tariff offer in the nature of Special Tariff Vouchers/Combo Vouchers/Add on Pack;
(b) make available such Tariff Offers to the subscribers at the Customer Care Centres, the points of sale, retail outlets and on the website, App of the telecom service provider; and
(c) ensure that the tariffs published by it update on the website, App and Customer Care Centre of the service provider, points of sale and retail outlets every time there is any change in any of the tariff offers or new tariff offer is launched;
"1. Confirm the authenticity of the said news reports. 2. Provide the reasons for discontinuation of such entry-level prepaid plans. 3. List of your currently available entry-level prepaid recharge plans with minimum data available."
And whereas M/s RJIL, vide its letter dated 25.08.2025, submitted its response to the Authority's letter dated 22.08.2025 and upon examination of the same, the Authority noted that the Special Tariff Vouchers viz. STV 249 and STV 199 are available only through Jio Stores and STV 209 is available only through MyJio mobile application;
And whereas the Authority, vide letter dated 04.11.2025, informed M/s RJIL that the STVs, mentioned in the preceding para, are available only on Jio Stores or MyJio app and not across all the platforms, as directed by the Authority, which amounts to violation of regulatory principle of transparency in communication of tariff, and accordingly, the Authority directed the service provider to provide reasons as to why -
(a) non-offering of STVs across all platforms should not be treated as violation of regulatory principle of transparency in communication of tariff and non-compliance of Authority's Direction dated 18.09.2020; and
(b) offering of a device-specific tariff should not be treated as violation of regulatory principle of non-discrimination;
And whereas M/s RJIL, vide its letter dated 11.11.2025, inter alia, informed the Authority that the Direction dated 18.09.2020 was issued by the Authority strictly on tariff publication and not on how and where the tariffs should be sold and further informed that JioPhone device tariffs and JioBharat device tariffs are offered to well-defined and distinct classes of subscribers i.e. the users that use these plans on JioPhone or JioBharat devices, respectively, and are not available to any other class of Jio users using any other device and thus, this distinction is not arbitrary as it is based on the intelligible criteria of an exclusive device type being used and, therefore, cannot be treated as discriminatory;
And whereas the Authority is of the view that the statement of M/s RJIL on the issue of tariff publication is misplaced and deviates from the intent and spirit of the Direction dated 18.09.2020 as para 11 of aforesaid Direction called for essential disclosure for tariff plans and for STV/CV/Add on Packs and the said para, inter a/ia, reads as under:-
"Essential Disclosure for Tariff Plans (A) publish, service area wise, within fifteen days of the date of issue of the said Direction, each Tariff Plan for post-paid subscribers, pre-paid subscribers, as applicable and shall make available such Tariff Plan to the subscribers at the Customer Care Centres, the points of sale, retail outlets and on the website, App of the telecom service provider. ...
Essential Disclosure for STVICV/Add on Packs (BJ publish, service area wise, within fifteen days of the date of issue of the said Direction, each tariff offer in the nature of Special Tariff Voucher/ Combo Vouchers/ Add on Pack and shall make available such Tariff Offers to the subscribers at the Customer Care Centres, the points of sale, retail outlets and on the website, App of the telecom service provider .... ':·
(a) availability of tariffs to customers and the publication of tariffs are inherently interconnected and cannot be considered in isolation as each aspect of one influences and complements the other; and
(b) availability of tariff offers and STV/CV/Add on Packs on all the platforms is imperative as such non-availability compels the customer to visit a specific outlet for availing one service plan and another outlet for another offer, which is not in the spirit of Telecommunication Tariff Order, 1999 and the Direction dated 18.09.2020;
