The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has ruled in favour of consumers by asking Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular to remove the conditionality in their STD tariff plan of Rs 1.30 ($.030) per minute, reports the Financial Express. 

The companies had announced that their subscribers should send them an SMS request to be included in the new plan, failing which the earlier rate of Rs 2.40 ($.055) per minute would be applicable. According to TRAI, this was discriminatory, as it was possible that many consumers were not aware of this option. It was also possible that many customers did not know how to send SMSs.

Now, the telecoms operators have to decide whether they would prefer to offer the new tariff plan to all or continue with the existing tariff rate. They decided to slash their STD rates following Bharti Airtel’s announcement of a tariff cut to Rs 1.50 ($.035) per minute. However, Bharti Airtel didn't attach any conditions.

Even though mobile operators do not require prior approval for introducing new tariffs, they need to inform TRAI about the changes within a week.  If the changes are not considered reasonable, TRAI can intervene. X