Explained: Will new TRAI order lead to cheaper prepaid plans for Jio, Airtel, Vi users?

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) issued a new order that can help prepaid users get cheaper plans. TRAI has made this move to acknowledge grievances from users. Some users expressed their concerns regarding the tariff offers of 28 days’ validity and its multiples. For instance, most carriers offer 14 days, 28 days, 56 days, 84 days validity. TRAI has ordered providers to release prepaid plans with 30 days of validity.

Does this mean all plans with 28 days validity will be upgraded to 30 days?

This may not be the case. The government has asked carriers to offer at least one plan voucher, one special tariff voucher, and one combo voucher having a validity of thirty days.

Additionally, the carriers have been asked to offer at least one plan voucher, one special tariff voucher, and one combo voucher which shall be renewable on the same date of every month. This is aimed at introducing more clarity regarding dates for the users.

Telecom consumers will have more options to choose service offerings of appropriate validity and duration, according to TRAI. It will also help consumers in making a more informed tariff-related choice.

Why do carriers offer 28 days instead of 30 days?

It will surprise you how much of an impact does a 28-day validity has, in comparison to a 30-days validity. With 28-day validity, users need to charge 13 times a year. If Airtel, Vodafone, and Jio decided to go with a 30-day plan instead, the user will only recharge for 12 months. The additional one month of recharge earns these companies thousands of crores in revenue.

The same issue can be found in plans that come with quarterly validity. Carriers fall short of offering the 90-day validity, instead, users have to opt for 30 days. This also leaves out a validity of 29 days in a year. With the new order, users will have a clearer idea about the time period and their yearly expenditure on prepaid plans.

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