The regulator said 30-day vouchers and vouchers renewable on the same date of every month are available on the websites of mobile operators and consumers can subscribe to them.
Trai in January had come out with amendments to the Telecommunications Tariff Order, mandating operators to offer 30 days vouchers and monthly renewable prepaid plans. It had issued the order after receiving references from consumers expressing concerns regarding the tariff offers of 28 days’ validity by telecom service providers (TSPs), rather than tariff offers having validity for 30 days or a month.
Implementing the directive meant that prepaid subscribers are also able to avail of postpaid-like billing cycles, where the bill is generated every month, regardless of the number of days in a month.
Prior to the Trai order, telcos were offering a majority of prepaid tariff packs with a validity period of 28/56/84 days. But consumers highlighted that with the 28-day validity pack, which was touted as a monthly pack, they had to do 13 recharges in a year. If the recharge can be done on a monthly basis, only 12 recharges have to be made in a year.
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