Telecom operators have stated that the 1GB data plans were discontinued after evaluating user preferences. One operator also noted the plan’s removal was based on market conditions, clarifying that some discontinued packs remain available through offline stores. Another provider discontinued its ₹249 plan, citing a strategic decision to enhance customer value based on market dynamics. To help customers choose better options, here are some affordable plans:

Jio’s ₹1,799 plan offers 84 days of validity, including 3GB of daily data. Plans with 2GB or more daily data include unlimited 5G access. The pack provides 100 SMS per day, unlimited calls across all networks, a Netflix Basic subscription, and access to JioTV. As part of its 9th-anniversary offers, users also receive a 2-month trial of Jio Home and an extra 2% on Jio Gold.

Vodafone Idea’s ₹1,749 plan provides 1.5GB of daily data, plus an additional 30GB of separate data valid for 45 days, exceeding the daily cap. The plan includes 100 SMS per day and offers 100 days more validity than Jio’s plan. Users also benefit from the ‘Binge All Night’ feature and weekend data rollover. However, Vi’s plans do not include OTT subscriptions, unlike Jio’s offering.

### Sanchaar Sathi Portal: Your Ally

The first and most important step after a phone theft or loss is to register the phone on the government’s Sanchaar Sathi portal. This portal, created by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), aims to prevent misuse of stolen phones. The Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) within the portal functions based on the unique IMEI number of each mobile phone. When your phone is blocked in this system, it becomes unusable with any other SIM card.

### Advantages of IMEI Blacklisting

By blacklisting the IMEI number immediately after the phone is stolen, the phone becomes inactive on any network. If a thief tries to turn it on, the mobile operator is immediately alerted. This simplifies the tracking process, significantly increasing the chances of recovery.

### How to Block a Stolen or Lost Mobile Phone

Begin by visiting the website www.sancharsaathi.gov.in in your browser. Click on the CEIR Block Stolen/Lost Mobile option. Fill out the form with your name, mobile number, email ID, the phone’s IMEI number, and other required details. Upload a copy of the FIR or details related to the complaint. Submit the application after filling in all the details. Once the application is registered, your phone will be blocked immediately, and no one will be able to use it.

### What to Do if the Phone is Found?

If you later recover your phone, there’s no need to worry. Visit the Sanchaar Sathi portal again and choose the Unblock Found Mobile option.

You’ll need to enter the reference number from your previous report. After that, your phone will be unblocked, and you can use it normally.

### Track Report Status

The Sanchaar Sathi portal also provides an option to track the status of your lost phone report. You can monitor the progress of your application and receive updates.

The proposed MNV (Mobile Number Verification) platform aims to help authorized entities and licensees verify if a phone number used by a user or company exists in the database. The DoT’s draft also mentions entities that use numbers or transactions to verify users, known as TIUEs (Telecommunication Identifier User Entities).

“DoT and RPF will work in collaboration for tracing and recovering lost/stolen mobile phones of train passengers. The Rail Madad app is now being interfaced with the DoT’s Sanchar Saathi platform,” said a Ministry of Communications release.

The Sanchar Saathi platform of DoT has the facility of blocking the reported stolen/lost mobile handsets, while Rail Madad app is a mobile application developed by Indian Railways to assist passengers in addressing and resolving their complaints or grievances during their train journeys.

In this direction, the onboarding of 17 Zones and 70+ Divisions of RPF has been started at Sanchar Saathi portal. Now the passengers can lodge complaint about the lost/stolen mobile handset at Rail Madad App. The complaints details will in turn be imported to Sanchar Saathi portal for blocking of lost/stolen mobile handset for preventing its misuse, enabling its tracing and alert generation to the RPF.

Till date, using CEIR facility of Sanchar Saathi, about 30 lakh mobile devices have been blocked, out of which around 18 lakh mobile devices have been traced, and 3.87 lakh mobile handsets have been successfully recovered by the police. The state police of Telangana, Maharashtra, and Karnataka have demonstrated outstanding efforts in leveraging this system to enhance public security and service.

Additionally, the DoT encourages citizens to continue reporting lost/stolen mobile phones through the CEIR module of Sanchar Saathi(www.sancharsaathi.gov.in), fostering a collaborative effort to make telecom services more secure and user-friendly. The Department remains dedicated to strict monitoring and prompt action to protect consumer interests.

Citizens can use Sanchar Sathi App to report misuse of telecom resources in cybercrime and cyber frauds.

Recently it has been observed that large number of spam calls are being originated from telecom identifiers like numbers starting from 0731, 079,080 etc by misusing PRIs, Lease Line, Internet Lease Lines, SIP and IPLC. Citizens, under the Jan Bhagidari , have been reporting such instances of Unsolicited Commercial Communication (UCC) / spam / fraud call  on  Chakshu module of Sanchar Saathi.

DoT analyses this crowd sourced data to act against such telecom resources. Identified cases are forwarded to the DoT’s field offices Licensed Service Areas (LSAs) for detailed investigation. In instances where violations are confirmed, telecom services are suspended for those engaging in unauthorized promotional activities.

Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) have been advised to take immediate necessary steps to ensure the scruples  compliance of  Unified License conditions relating to the curbing the misuse of PRIs including SIP trunks, Lease Line, Internet Lease Lines, IPLC  etc. , and to regularly check for their bonafide use .

Call to Action for Enterprises/Bulk customers:

The DoT calls on Enterprises/Bulk customers/ Consumers to ensure their telecom services are used in compliance with established regulations, avoiding any misuse for unsolicited commercial communication. Violations could result in severe penalties, including disconnection of services.

Additionally, the DoT encourages citizens to continue reporting spam calls through the Chakshu module of Sanchar Saathi(www.sancharsaathi.gov.in), fostering a collaborative effort to make telecom services more secure and user-friendly. The Department remains dedicated to strict monitoring and prompt action against UCC violators to protect consumer interests.

Citizens can use Sanchar Sathi App to report misuse of telecom resources in cybercrime and cyber frauds, Ministry of Communications said. 

Earlier, DoT, through a reference dated 07.12.2021 under Section 11 (1) (a) of the TRAl Act, 1997, requested TRAI to provide recommendations on allowing sharing of core network elements such as MSC, HLR, IN etc., among telecom operators. Subsequently, DoT, through a reference dated 10.02.2022, mentioning its earlier reference dated 07.12.2021, informed that “to promote optimum resource utilization among the licensees, it is proposed to allow sharing of all kinds of telecom infrastructure and network elements among all categories of service providers licensed under the Section 4 of Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 for provision of authorized telecom services”, and requested TRAI to provide recommendations on the subject.

Considering the request of stakeholders to permit inter-band spectrum sharing and leasing of spectrum in the country, the Authority decided to take up the issues related to spectrum sharing and spectrum leasing along with the issues related to infrastructure sharing in the stakeholders’ consultation.

After a comprehensive consultation with stakeholders, TRAI sent its recommendations on ‘Telecommunication Infrastructure Sharing, Spectrum Sharing, and Spectrum Leasing’ to DoT on 24.04.2024.

Subsequently, DoT, through a back-reference dated 13.02.2025, informed TRAI that as per Section 11(1) of the TRAI Act 1997 (as amended), such recommendations on ‘Telecommunication Infrastructure Sharing, Spectrum Sharing, and Spectrum Leasing’ dated 24.04.2024, where the Government has reached a prima-facie conclusion that these recommendations may not be accepted or may need modification are being referred back to TRAI for its reconsideration.

In this regard, after a careful examination, TRAI has sent its response to the back-reference to DoT. TRAI’s response to the back-reference has also been placed on the TRAI’s website (www.trai.gov.in).

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) stated that, leveraging AI and Big Data, it also deactivated 16.97 lakh WhatsApp accounts. Adding further, more than 20,000 bulk SMS senders were blacklisted under the DoT’s ‘Sanchar Saathi’ initiative, according to Dr. Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar, Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development, in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

Through the Sanchar Saathi portal, the government facilitates citizens to report suspected fraud communications on Chakshu facility. DoT then carries out several analysis and takes action on such telecom resources that have been found linked to misuse, said the minister.

Rather than acting on individual reported suspected fraud communications, DoT uses the crowd sourced data to carry out analysis and to zero down on misuse of telecom resources. The Department uses AI based tool and big data analysis to identify suspected mobile connections taken on fake documents.

Further, DoT and telecom service providers (TSPs) have devised a system for near real time identification and blocking of incoming international spoofed calls displaying Indian mobile numbers that appear to be originating from India, said the minister.

Meanwhile, telecom service providers have blacklisted 1,150 entities/individuals and disconnected more than 18.8 lakh resources. The actions led to a significant reduction in the complaints against unregistered telemarketers (UTMs) — from 1,89,419 in August 2024 to 1,34,821 in January 2025.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) amended the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR), 2018 on February 12.

A customer can now make a complaint about spam/unsolicited commercial communication (UCC) within seven days of receiving spam as compared to earlier three-day time limit.

The time limit for taking action by the access providers against the UCC from unregistered senders has been reduced from 30 days to 5 days, according to the amendments. To ensure prompt action against the senders of UCC, the criterion for taking action against them has been revised and made more stringent. (With IANS Inputs)

Speaking at Mobile World Congress (MWC) Barcelona, the minister said that the 9th edition of the India Mobile Congress (IMC) will take place in New Delhi from October 8 to 11, 2025. “Under the visionary guidance of our Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we are witnessing a fundamental transformation that is empowering citizens and fostering innovation,” Scindia noted.

Organised by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), IMC 2025 promises to be a major event for industry leaders, policymakers, and technology enthusiasts.

At #MWC25, highlighted India’s commitment to Global Tech Governance and its guiding principles—innovation, inclusivity, sustainability & trust.

From Aadhaar to BharatNet, Green Technology to Transparent AI, under the leadership of PM Shri @narendramodi Ji, we are ensuring that… pic.twitter.com/kcqQ6Om8Jk — Jyotiraditya M. Scindia (@JM_Scindia) March 3, 2025

It will provide a space to explore the future of connectivity, sustainability, and digital innovation, while addressing key challenges and opportunities in the fast-evolving global digital landscape. The forum will also showcase the latest advancements and innovations in technology, creating a unique opportunity for collaboration among global experts.

“India is set to take lead in emerging technologies like 6G, AI & Quantum and the IMC has played a pivotal role in this journey, serving as a catalyst for progress in telecom and technology sectors,” Scindia stated.

The 2025 edition will focus on showcasing breakthroughs across several key sectors, including 5G & 6G, Artificial Intelligence (AI), semiconductors, electronics manufacturing, quantum computing, cybersecurity, satellite communications, deep-tech, clean-tech, smart mobility, Industry 4.0, and enterprise transformation.

One of the highlights of the event will be ASPIRE, a pioneering startup programme designed to encourage innovation and growth. The programme will also feature mentorship workshops, live pitches, networking opportunities, and potential partnerships.

It is expected to attract over 1,000 startups, with participation from more than 300 investors, incubators, accelerators, and venture capitalists. Meanwhile, over 900 technology use case scenarios were showcased in last year’s IMC, including 750 AI-based use cases.