TRAI mandates more voice and SMS only recharge options; Vi shares soar

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Tuesday released the Telecom Consumer Protection (Thirteenth Amendment) Regulation, 2026, mandating telecom service providers to offer more Special Tariff Vouchers (STVs) exclusively for voice and SMS.

The amendment seeks to address the limited availability of voice-and-SMS-only STVs, particularly shorter-duration options. TRAI said it had observed that such vouchers were available in limited numbers and were largely concentrated around longer validities, leaving low-income consumers with fewer affordable shorter-duration choices.