TRAI proposes increasing data packs’ validity to one year

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India(TRAI) has proposed an increased validity of mobile recharge voucher for internet services from a maximum of 90 days to 365 days to enhance usage by marginal consumers.

"After examination of various aspects of the issue, the Authority feels a longer validity of 365 days instead of the current 90 days could be beneficial for marginal consumers, first-time users, and price-sensitive consumers," TRAI India said in a statement. Releasing the draft Telecom Consumers Protection (Tenth Amendment) Regulations, 2016, the regulator said stakeholders can send their comments by July 26.

The present regulations allow telecom service providers to offer data services in the form of special tariff voucher (STV) either exclusively or in a combination of other tariff items with a maximum permitted validity of 90 days.

However, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said many consumers, who have recently begun using wireless Internet, consume much fewer data and therefore, a significant portion of the volume of data offered in the data-packs subscribed by them remains unutilised by the time the expiry date of data-pack arrives.

"The unutilised data in the data-pack is forfeited upon expiry of the period of validity. As a result, the effective price per Megabyte of data to such consumers turns out to be much higher," TRAI said.

The regulator further added that it has received requests seeking longer validity for data-packs primarily to address the concern of marginal consumers of wireless Internet who prefer lower denomination data packs with longer validity.

"Keeping in view, it appears reasonable to keep the maximum period of validity for the "data only" STVs, which are intended to be offered to attract marginal consumers, first-time data users and price-sensitive consumers, as one year (365 days)," TRAI said.