Correction — October 3, 2026: The previous version incorrectly said the 28-day billing cycle was being abolished and guaranteed 12 recharges a year. We removed those claims and unrelated unsupported directives. The enacted amendment concerns voice-and-SMS-only voucher choices, with a commencement period tied to Gazette publication.
TRAI’s Thirteenth Amendment Regulations, 2026 require voice-and-SMS-only Special Tariff Vouchers with reduced tariffs across specified validity choices. They do not say that every 28-day bundled recharge must disappear. A consumer should compare the actual available vouchers rather than assume their existing plan automatically becomes longer or cheaper.
What the amendment requires
The notification is dated September 21; TRAI’s website lists its release on September 22. It requires voice-and-SMS-only options corresponding to bundled voucher validities of 30 days or less, a same-date monthly-renewal option, and at least one corresponding longer-validity option. The prescribed tariff reduction is described as appropriate, without a universal percentage.
The accompanying press note explains the problem: existing voice-only choices were concentrated in longer validities, limiting affordable short-duration options. The change gives consumers who do not need bundled data more choices. It does not establish a specific new price from Jio, Airtel, Vi or BSNL.
Thirty days and a calendar month are different
Twelve 30-day periods total 360 days. Thirteen 28-day periods total 364 days. Neither calculation establishes coverage for a full 365-day year. Calendar-month renewal follows a date in the month, with a last-day rule where that date is unavailable; fixed-day validity counts elapsed days.
The earlier promise that the regulation guarantees one saved payment every year was therefore misleading. A tariff can change alongside validity, and a customer may recharge on a different schedule. Annual savings require both the price and the coverage period.
Compare equivalent service before paying
For an illustrative fixed-duration comparison, daily cost is price divided by validity. A hypothetical ₹280 voucher for 28 days costs ₹10 per day; ₹300 for 30 days also costs ₹10 per day. The second lasts longer but has no lower daily cost. These are examples, not advertised operator tariffs.
Check whether a voucher includes the calling allowance, SMS allowance and service validity you need. Removing data can be useful for a feature-phone user or someone who relies on Wi-Fi. Someone who still needs mobile data should include any separate data purchase before judging the total cost.
An optional membership is another separate expense. Our Jio Prime guide examines the ₹300 membership and the benefits needed to recover its fee. Buying membership should not be confused with buying an ordinary voice-and-data recharge.
Check the effective date and the operator’s current offer
The regulation says it comes into force after thirty days from publication in the Official Gazette. A website release date is not, by itself, proof of that publication date or of a particular operator’s implementation. This article does not assert that all required offers were already available on October 3.
Before purchasing, inspect the operator’s own voucher listing and terms. Save the price, validity and included services shown for your number. If a relevant option is missing, those details provide a clearer basis for asking the operator about availability than a claim that all 28-day plans were banned.
Cover: AI-generated editorial illustration; not a product screenshot or evidence of a measured result.
