[23th
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:- (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. 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. 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. Regulation 5 of the
principal regulations shall be deleted. 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.308-5/2011-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.308-5/2011-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 27thNovember, 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). 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 TSPs. 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. (C)
Response from the stakeholders: In response to consultation
paper, a total of 41 comments and 05 counter-comments by stakeholders
representing associations, TSPs, individuals and Consumer Advocacy groups were
received which are available in public domain on the TRAI website. There was an
online Open House Discussion (OHD) held on 21-10-2024 in which various
stakeholders participated. Post online OHD, comments of stakeholders were also
received. (1)
Choice of Tariff Availability: 1.1 On reviewing the views of stakeholders, it is
noted that there has been a clear-cut divide of opinion between the TSPs
(except BSNL) and consumer organisations/individuals on the matter of mandating
of Voice & SMS only vouchers. The TSPs except for BSNL have opposed
separate Voice & SMS only packs while the consumer organisations and other
individuals have come in favour of these types of vouchers. 1.2 The views against having separate Voice &
SMS only vouchers were based on the following: (i)
The existing policy of forbearance should be
continued with. (ii)
Separate Voice & SMS vouchers would
reverse data inclusion as it is critical for consumers today (like online
re-charges, UPI etc) and in-line with initiatives by the Government like the
Digital India programme. 1.3 The points raised in favour of having separate
Voice & SMS vouchers were based on the following: (i)
Separate Voice & SMS only vouchers would
be helpful for the elderly customers and especially those living in rural
areas. (ii)
Consumers must have right to choice. (iii)
Separate Voice and SMS only vouchers would be
beneficial on account of varied aspects like catering to voice centric users,
cost effective plans, flexibility & customization and market segmentation. (iv)
Separate Voice and SMS vouchers cater to
users who prioritize voice communication, offering a cost-effective solution
without data features, thus simplifying their choices and enhancing user
satisfaction. (v)
Elder people are lesser inclined to use data
services due to lack of knowledge especially in rural areas. (vi)
Families having broadband at home feel that
recharging for data is extra burden and forcing them to pay for services which
is not required. (vii)
For getting OTP from registered mobile
numbers given in Banks, Aadhar, ITR filling report etc, Voice and SMS packs are
required especially when registered mobile number is not the primary number of
user. Apart from above, data
collected from various Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) reveals that still a
significant segment i.e. about 150 million subscribers continues to rely on
feature phones for communication. This indicates an ongoing demand for Voice
and SMSonly plans, as these users primarily require basic telecommunication
services viz. only Voice and SMS. 1.4
International Practices: Banglalink, a telecom
service provider in Bangladesh, offers Voice-only and SMS only packs for their
subscribers. Grameenphone, another
telecom service provider in Bangladesh also offers Voice-only and SMS only
packs for different validity periods. Tello, a telecom service
provider in United States, offers a tariff plan with custom choice of minute
units and free SMS packs for their subscribers. Telenor, a leading telecom
service provider in Pakistan, offers a variety of packages to meet diverse
customer needs. These include Voice-only and SMS-only plans, as well as an
internet usage calculator on their website, enabling users to select the most suitable
plans based on their requirements. Ufone, another telecom
service provider in Pakistan offers tariffs for Voice only services, and
combination of Voice and SMS services. 1.5 In
view of the above, after going through the views of stakeholders and best
international practices, the Authority is of the view that a separate STV for
Voice and SMS in addition to existing Data only STV and bundled offers shall be
mandated. It is also observed that mandating Voice and SMS only STV will
provide an option to subscribers who do not require data and this in anyway
will not reverse the government initiative of data inclusion as service
providers are at liberty to offer bundled offers and data only vouchers. (2)
Validity of Vouchers: 2.1 With respect to the issue related to
extending the validity of STV and CV, most of the stakeholders including
service providers were in favour of extending the validity of beyond the
present cap of ninety (90) days. The TSPs felt that in the changing landscape,
the cap on validity is no longer relevant. There was almost unanimous view that
extension of validity period would benefit consumers from the hassle of
frequent re-charges. 2.2 The authority after going through the views
of stakeholders and keeping in view the existing provision of validity of Data
only packs up to three hundred and sixty-five (365) days provided by Telecom
Consumers Protection (Tenth Amendment) Regulations, 2016, is of the opinion
that in sync with validity of Data only packs, the cap on validity of STV and CV
be extended from present ninety (90) days to three hundred and sixty-five (365)
days. Here it is to be noted that increasing the cap on validity is no way
prohibiting service providers to offer smaller validity packs. (3)
Colour coding of Vouchers: 3.1 On the matter of colour coding of vouchers
and introducing colour coding in the digital mode, most of the participants
were of the view that colour coding has become irrelevant in todays scenario of
online recharge and is therefore not required either in the physical or digital
mode. 3.2 In view of above unanimous view on the issue,
Authority is of the opinion that colour coding of vouchers be done away with. (4)
Denomination of Vouchers: 4.1 In the matter of reserving denomination of
?10/- and multiple thereof only for Top up vouchers and whether all types of
vouchers can be offered in any denomination, most participants were of the view
that such distinction can be done away with as miniscule re-charges happen for
top-up vouchers and also that all types of vouchers can be offered in any
denomination as online recharges have become more common nowadays. Moreover,
the issues of currency change prevalent at the time of reserving denomination
of ?10/- and multiple thereof only for Top up vouchers are not of much relevance
in an era where digital transactions are prominent. 4.2 Considering above, the Authority is of the
view that reserving of denomination of ?10/- and multiple thereof only for
top-up voucher be done away with and TSPs may be allowed to offer all the
vouchers in any denomination of their choice while retaining mandate of at
least one Top Up voucher of denomination of ?10/- provided by Telecommunication
Tariff Order (TTO) (50th amendment) Order 2012. (D)
Conclusion To summarize, in view of the
responses from stakeholders and in view of the specific consumer requirements,
the Authority has decided the following: (i)
To mandate a separate STV for Voice &
SMS. This would give consumers an option to pay for the services they require
in general and in particular benefit certain segments of consumers especially
the elderly persons, those living in rural areas and feature phone users. (ii)
The cap on validity period for STV and CV be
increased from existing ninety (90) days to three hundred and sixty-five (365)
days in line with validity of data only vouchers as this would benefit
consumers from the hassles of frequent re-charge. (iii)
Colour coding of vouchers as it exists in the
physical form be done away with in view of the prominence of online re-charges. (iv)
The reserving of denomination of ?10/- and
multiple thereof only for top-up voucher be done away with and TSPs may be
allowed to offer all the vouchers in any denomination of their choice while
retaining mandate of at least one Top Up voucher of denomination of ?10/- provided
by TTO (50th amendment) order 2012.Telecom Consumers Protection (Twelfth Amendment) Regulations, 2024
PREAMBLE