Telecom Consumers Protection (Twelfth Amendment) Regulations, 2024

TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY, PART-III, SECTION 4

TELECOM REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA

NOTIFICATION

New Delhi, 23rd December, 2024

No. RG-13/1/(1)/2023-ADV_ FEA-I ---- In exercise of the powers conferred upon it under section 36, read with sub-clauses (i) and (v) of clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 11, of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 (24 of 1997), the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India hereby makes the following regulations further to amend the Telecom Consumers Protection Regulations, 2012 (2 of 2012), namely:-

TELECOM CONSUMERS PROTECTION (TWELFTH AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 2024 (08 of 2024)

1. (1) These regulations may be called the Telecom Consumers Protection (Twelfth Amendment) Regulations, 2024; (2) They shall come into force after thirty days from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

2. In regulation 2 of the Telecom Consumers Protection Regulations, 2012 (2 of 2012) (hereinafter referred to as the “principal regulations”), in clause (ca), for the words “ninety days”, the words “three hundred and sixty-five days” shall be substituted.

3. In regulation 4 of the principal regulations, in sub-regulation (2) – (a) in clause (a), sub-clause (iv) shall be deleted; (b) in clause (b), sub-clause (v) shall be deleted; (c) in clause (c) – (i) in sub-clause (iii) for the words “ninety days”, the words “three hundred and sixty-five days” shall be substituted; (ii) in sub-clause (iii), after the third proviso, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely- “Provided also that the service provider shall offer at least one Special Tariff Voucher exclusively for Voice and SMS with validity period not exceeding three hundred and sixty-five days”. (iii) sub-clause (vi) shall be deleted; (d) in clause (d), sub-clause (v) shall be deleted.

4. Regulation 5 of the principal regulations shall be deleted.

[Image omitted. See the official document.] (Atul Kumar Chaudhary) Secretary (TRAI)

Note.1. - The Telecom Consumers Protection Regulations, 2012 were published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III, Section 4 dated the 6th January, 2012 vide notification number No. 308-5/2011-QOS dated the 6th January, 2012. Note.2. – The Telecom Consumers Protection Regulations, 2012 were amended vide Notification No.308-5/2011-QOS and published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III, Section 4 dated the 11th January, 2012. Note.3. – The Telecom Consumers Protection Regulations, 2012 were further amended vide Notification No.308-5/2011-QOS and published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III, Section 4 dated the 21st February, 2012. Note.4. – The Telecom Consumers Protection Regulations, 2012 were further amended vide Notification No.308-3/2011-QOS and published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III, Section 4 dated the 7th March, 2012. Note. 5. - The Telecom Consumers Protection Regulations, 2012 were further amended vide Notification No.308-3/2011-QOS and published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III, Section 4 dated the 22nd October, 2012. Note.6. – The Telecom Consumers Protection Regulations, 2012 were further amended vide Notification No.308-5/2011-QOS and published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III, Section 4 dated the 27th November, 2012. Note.7. – The Telecom Consumers Protection Regulations, 2012 were further amended vide Notification No.308-5/2011-QOS and published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III, Section 4 dated the 21st February, 2013. Note.8. – The Telecom Consumers Protection Regulations, 2012 were further amended vide Notification No.308-3/2012-QOS and published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III, Section 4 dated the 3rd December, 2013. Note.9. – The Telecom Consumers Protection Regulations, 2012 were further amended vide Notification No.308-1/2015-QOS and published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III, Section 4 dated the 7th August, 2015. Note.10. – The Telecom Consumers Protection Regulations, 2012 were further amended vide Notification No.301-23/2015-F&EA and published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III, Section 4 dated the 16th October, 2015. Note.11. – The Telecom Consumers Protection Regulations, 2012 were further amended vide Notification No.301-7(2)/2015-F&EA and published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III, Section 4 dated the 19th August, 2016. Note. 12.- The Telecom Consumers Protection Regulations, 2012 were further amended vide Notification No. 301-20/2020-F&EA and published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III, Section 4 dated the 30th September, 2020. Note.13 – The Explanatory Memorandum explains the objects and reasons of the Telecom Consumers Protection (Twelfth Amendment) Regulations, 2024 (08 of 2024).

[Image omitted. See the official document.]

---

Explanatory Memorandum

A. Introduction and Background:

1. The Authority had conducted a consumer survey between September 2022 to November 2022 in respect of Tariffs of Telecommunication Services and related issues with the objective to understand:

• the consumer views on evolution of tariffs per se;
• the efficacy of consumer protection regulations included in the Tariff Order;
• the efficacy of transparency framework in publishing of tariff offers or in advertisement given by the Telecom Service Provider (TSP).

2. Based on the feedback received from consumers and various stakeholders including TSPs and their associations, etc. TRAI issued a consultation paper on review of Telecom Consumer Protection Regulations (TCPR) 2012 on July 26, 2024. The paper deals with the following key areas:

• Choice of Tariff Availability: To explore the requirement of separate Voice and SMS plan, and separate data plans tailored to specific segments like elderly persons, people residing in rural areas etc. in addition to bundled offerings presently provided by TSP’s.
• Validity of vouchers: To explore the need for reviewing the validity period of Special Tariff Vouchers (STV) which is presently capped at ninety (90) days and to assess whether there are specific consumer segments that would benefit from longer validity periods for Special Tariff Vouchers (STVs) and Combo Vouchers (CVs).
• Colour coding of vouchers: To explore the relevance of colour coding of physical vouchers in present scenario when online vouchers are more prevalent and also whether colour coding can be introduced in digital mode to enhance consumer convenience and clarity.
• Denomination of vouchers: To explore the relevance of reserving denomination of ₹10/- and multiple thereof only for Top up Vouchers in the present situation where re-charge of vouchers is carried out through the digital mode and also whether all types of vouchers can be allowed to be offered in any denomination of the choice of service provider.

B. Consultation Issues:

The paper posed the following issues for consideration before the stakeholders:

i. How do current tariff plans offered by telecom service providers align with the preferences and usage patterns of consumers, particularly elderly individuals? Please justify with rationale. ii. Is there a need for separate plans for Voice & SMS and data to meet the specific requirements of subscribers. Please justify with reasons. iii. Whether the maximum validity of Special Tariff Vouchers (STVs) and Combo Vouchers (CVs) for consumers should be increased? Please Justify your response with reasons. iv. Are there specific consumer segments that would benefit from longer validity periods for Special Tariff Vouchers (STVs) and Combo Vouchers (CVs)? Please justify along with rationale. v. In the current scenario, where dealers are doing recharge of vouchers online instead of selling physical vouchers. How relevant is colour coding of physical vouchers? Please justify with reasons. vi. Whether colour coding can be introduced in digital mode to enhance consumer convenience and clarity? Please Justify your response with rationale. vii. In the present situation where recharge of vouchers is carried out through digital mode, is there any relevance of reserving denomination of ₹10/- and multiple thereof only for Top up Vouchers. Please Justify with reasons. viii. Whether all types of vouchers can be allowed to be offered in any denomination of the choice of service provider? Please Justify along with rationale.