TRAI Chairman said: Telecom companies will have to give vouchers with special tariff

New Delhi| Mobile service providers will have to issue separate plans for voice calls and SMS for customers who do not use the data. TRAI will not reconsider this order. Its validity period shall not exceed 365 days. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti said, this decision is in the interest of customers.

The 90-day limit on special recharge coupons will be up to 365 days, the TRAI chairman said. The service provider will have to provide at least one special tariff voucher specifically for voice i.e. negotiation and SMS. Lahoti said, a pilot project on Digital Distributed Laser Technology (DLT) platform for previous approvals given by customers to receive commercial messages will start this month. Customers may be encouraged to use the data, but cannot force them to do so.

Currently, if you receive a message or call from a particular service provider or vendor and you complain that it is spam, they may say that it is not. We have customer’s consent. Lahoti said, TRAI’s focus is not only to protect the interests of the industry but also the interests of customers, who should have the option to pay only for the services they need.

The Agency shall appoint for regulatory reform. It will be completed this year. Lahoti said, another thing we will work on is digital consent acquisition. The challenge is how to move those consents to DLT, because you can’t completely renounce them. The regulator is also set to initiate reforms in IT.