Relief for users: Raghav Chadha welcomes new 30-day prepaid recharge plans

Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha on Sunday said the Centre's decision to require telecom operators to offer special tariff vouchers for voice calls and SMS only at a lower cost is "a perfect example of constructive politics". In a video message, he said the move came after he raised the issue during the Budget session of Parliament on March 11. Calling it a response to problems faced by pre-paid mobile users, Chadha said he hoped such issues would continue to be taken up and resolved.

"This is a perfect example of constructive politics," he said, adding,"I hope we continue to solve the real problems of real India together like this." According to the Telecom Consumers Protection (Thirteenth Amendment) Regulations, 2026, released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on September 22, telecom operators will have to issue special tariff vouchers for voice calls and SMS only.These will be similar to the existing vouchers that come bundled with data, voice calls and SMS, and carry a validity of 30 days or less.Hailing the decision, Chadha said, "On March 11, I highlighted some problems of pre-paid mobile users in Parliament.

I had pointed out that while there are twelve months in a year, but one has to recharge thirteen times. Why there are monthly recharge plans for 28-day cycle? Plans with 30-day validity should be introduced." He also said, "I had also pointed out that there are many consumers who do not consume data. For them, there should be plans for voice-only (recharge) plans. I am glad to share that the government has accepted your (people's) plan."

The development follows his intervention in Parliament on recharge validity and non-data users' needs.- Ends