look news india
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued new guidelines for telecom companies, giving huge relief to crores of mobile consumers of the country. Under this big decision of TRAI, now major companies like Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea will have to offer such recharge plans in which only voice calling and SMS facilities are available. Till now, consumers had to compulsorily buy expensive data packs to continue calling, which was especially a burden on the pockets of users in rural areas, the elderly and those with secondary SIMs. As soon as this announcement came out, there was a stir in the shares of Vodafone-Idea in the stock market and a sharp rise was seen in the company’s stock.
According to market experts, there are still more than 30 crore customers in India who only use feature phone users or who do not need internet data. In the recent past, due to increase in tariffs by telecom operators, the minimum recharge price had increased significantly. TRAI found that millions of consumers were paying for data bundles that they never used. This step of the regulator is being considered a revolutionary change towards digital inclusion and protection of customer rights.
Relief to feature phone users and positive impact on Vodafone-Idea shares.
This instruction of TRAI will directly benefit those mobile holders who want to stay connected with their loved ones only through calling. The regulator has clarified that telecom companies will have to include standalone voice and SMS vouchers in their tariff portfolio, so that customers can get an affordable option to extend validity without purchasing data. This will provide direct savings to consumers who were forced to spend Rs 200 to Rs 300 every month just for incoming and limited outgoing calls.
As soon as this news reached Dalal Street, investors turned sharply towards Vodafone-Idea (Vi). Market analysts believe that Vi has a large base of feature phone and 2G users. If the company comes up with an attractive and affordable voice-only plan, its user base will be safe and the churn rate may drop drastically. Due to this, huge buying of Vi shares by investors was recorded on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE), which led to a sharp rise in share prices.
Telecom companies will announce their new voice-only vouchers in the coming weeks after TRAI’s new rules come into effect. This is expected to increase competition in the market and reduce the mobile expenditure of common consumers by 30 to 40 percent.