Rajya Sabha member, Aam Admi Party (AAP) spokesperson and Chartered Accountant Raghav Chadha, on 23 March raised the issue of daily data expiry implemented by telecom companies in India.
The politician, in a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), pointed that recharge plans of most major telcos today include daily data limits ranging from 1.5-3 GB, which reset every 24 hours, adding that the unused data is not rolled over or refunded.
He wrote: “Telecom companies offer Recharge Plans with ‘Daily Data Limits’ like 1.5GB, 2GB or 3GB per day, resetting every 24 hours. Any Unused Data EXPIRES at midnight, despite being fully paid for. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝟐𝐆𝐁. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝟏.𝟓𝐆𝐁. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟎.𝟓𝐆𝐁 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬. No refund. No rollover. Just gone. This is not an accident. This is policy. Use it unnecessarily or lose it by midnight. That’s how mobile data works today.”
‘Why should data that we paid for be forfeited?’ Chadha noted that he raised this issue in Parliament — “Why should data that we paid for be forfeited? UNUSED DATA should carry forward into the next cycle, so consumers can use what they have already paid for”.
Speaking to media after the Parliament session, Chadha further explained his argument with an analogy. “For example, when you fill your car tank with 20 litres of petrol, and use 15 litre in a month, leaving 5 litre unused, the petrol pump owner does not ask you to return the unused petrol because validity has ended. If you've paid for 20 litres, you can use the entire capacity. The same way data rollover should be allowed.”
He added that similar policies are in place in countries across the globe, including the United States of America, Australia, Netherlands and many other European countries.
What are the solutions to address unused data? Speaking during the zero hour in Parliament, the MP made the following demands for telcos on the matter:
𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲-𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝/ 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐫: All telecom operators should provide rollover of unused data. This means that what remains unused at the end of the day, should be added to the next day’s Daily Data Limit, not erased the moment validity ends.
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𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐝𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐔𝐧𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡’𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐀𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐬: If a consumer consistently under utilises their data over multiple cycles, there should be a mechanism for adjustment or discount of that value, from the following month’s recharge amount. Consumers should not repeatedly pay for capacity they do not use.
𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐔𝐧𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 and 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬: Unused data should be treated as the consumer’s digital property. Users should be allowed to transfer their unused data to others, from their daily data limit, just as transfer money to others.
‘Monthly recharge a scam’: Raghav Chadha Earlier on 11 March too, the leader had raised the issue of the 28-day “monthly” recharge plans, calling it a “scam”.
“I raised this in Parliament today. Telecom companies call their plans “monthly” — but they last only 28 days. That means prepaid users pay for 13 recharges in a year instead of 12. 28 days × 13 recharges = 364 days. If it’s monthly, it should follow the actual calendar month. Consumers deserve better. Not these clever tricks,” he had stated in a post on X.
Chadha, on 16 March, also proposed joint filing of income tax returns for married couples. Speaking in Parliament, the AAP leader said that his proposal seeks to even out the burden on families with uneven incomes and get the same benefits as two similarly earning spouses. He explained that under the current system, individuals pay taxes separately and the combined income is not taken into consideration and disregards the reality of “One roof. One kitchen. One household budget.”