Telecom Consumers Protection Regulations Amendment

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

TELECOM REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA

NOTIFICATION

New Delhi, 21^st^ September, 2026

TELECOM CONSUMERS PROTECTION (THIRTEENTH AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 2026

(6 OF 2026)

No. RG-8/(2)/2025-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:-

1. Short title and commencement--- (1) These regulations may be called the Telecom Consumers Protection (Thirteenth Amendment) Regulations, 2026.

• (2) They shall come into force after thirty days from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

2. In regulation 4 of the Telecom Consumers Protection Regulations, 2012, in sub-regulation (2), in clause (c), in sub-clause (iii), for the fourth proviso, the following proviso shall be substituted, namely-

"Provided also that the service provider shall offer Special Tariff Vouchers (STVs) with appropriate reduction in tariff, exclusively for Voice and SMS for:

• (i) validities corresponding to each validity period of thirty days and less than thirty days for STV being offered for Voice, SMS and data, whether with or without value added services and;
• (ii) validity renewable on the same date of every month and if the date of such renewal is not available in a month, the date of renewal shall be the last date of that month and;
• (iii) at least one STV with validity more than (i) and (ii) above, corresponding to the validity period of STVs being offered for Voice, SMS and data, whether with or without value added services."

(Harinder Kumar)
Secretary

हरिन्द्र कुमार/Harinder Kumar, ITS
सचिव/Secretary
भारतीय दूरसंचार विनियामक प्राधिकरण
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
नई दिल्ली/New Delhi

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Note.1. - The Telecom Consumers Protection Regulations, 2012 were published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III, Section 4 dated the 6^th^ January, 2012 vide notification number No. 308-5/2011- QOS dated the 6^th^ 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 11^th^ 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 21^st^ February, 2012.

Note.4. - 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 7^th^ March, 2012.

Note.5. - 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 22^nd^ 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 27^th^ 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 21^st^ 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 3^rd^ 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 7^th^ 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 16^th^ 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 19^th^ 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 30^th^ September, 2020.

Note.13 - The Telecom Consumers Protection Regulations, 2012 were further amended vide Notification No. RG-13/1/(1)/2023-ADV_ FEA-I and published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III, Section 4 dated the 23^rd^ December, 2024.

Note 14.- The Explanatory Memorandum explains the objects and reasons of the Telecom Consumers Protection (Thirteenth Amendment) Regulations, 2026 (6 of 2026).

हरिन्द्र कुमार/Harinder Kumar, ITS
सचिव/Secretary
भारतीय दूरसंचार विनियामक प्राधिकरण
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
नई दिल्ली/New Delhi

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Explanatory Memorandum

Introduction and Background

1. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, through the Twelfth Amendment to the Telecom Consumer Protection Regulations, 2012, (the principal regulation) dated 23.12.2024 inserted the following proviso, after the third proviso, in sub-clause (iii) under clause (c) of sub-regulation (2) of regulation 4:-

"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."

2. The said provision sought to give consumers an option to avail and pay only for the services they require. In particular, it was intended to address the requirements of consumers such as the elderly persons, those living in rural areas and feature phone users seeking only voice and SMS services in their subscription.

3. Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) have introduced one/two Special Tariff Vouchers (STVs) exclusively for Voice and SMS. However, it is observed that STVs are being offered with longer validities viz. 80/84 days and/or 336/365 days, and shorter validity Voice-and-SMS-only STVs have not been launched by any TSP.

4. It was also observed that, while introducing these Voice-and-SMS-only STVs, TSPs initially did not offer reasonable or commensurate reduction in prices, even though data services were excluded. This situation reduced the intended benefit to consumers. However, the TSPs reduced the price of these STVs reasonably after public discontent.

5. After the introduction of these Voice-and-SMS-only STVs, several concerns and representations from consumers and their associations have been received by the Authority, expressing a need for shorter-duration Voice-and-SMS-only STVs.

6. The key concerns are summarized below:

• Low-income consumers are being deprived of affordable shorter duration choices. Low-income consumers, especially those living in rural areas or using feature phones, require shorter validity STVs so that the recharge amounts do not strain their finances.
• The existing STVs are being offered in only two options of approximately quarterly and yearly validities. These higher validity STVs require relatively higher one-time payment, which may be challenging for the low-income consumers.
• Whereas the STVs with Voice, SMS and data are offered with many validity options, Voice-and-SMS-only STVs are offered with limited choices. Consumers who do not use data have limited choices available and are placed at a disadvantageous position. This goes against the objective of ensuring fair, equal and non-discriminatory choices for all consumers.