Rajya Sabha member, Aam Admi Party (AAP) spokesperson and Chartered Accountant Raghav Chadha on March 23 raised the issue of expiry of daily data introduced by telecom companies in India.
In a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), the politician pointed out that the recharge plans of most major telecom companies today include daily data limits ranging from 1.5 to 3 GB, which are reset every 24 hours, adding that unused data is not rolled over or refunded.
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He wrote: “Telecom companies offer recharge plans with “daily data limits” like 1.5GB, 2GB or 3GB per day that reset every 24 hours. Any unused data EXPIRES at midnight even if fully paid for. 𝐽𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟎.𝟓𝐆𝐁 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐥. No rollover. This is not an accident.
“Why should the data we paid for be forfeited?”
Chadha noted that he had raised the issue in Parliament — “Why should the data we have paid for be forfeited? UNUSED DATA should be carried over to the next cycle so that consumers can use what they have already paid for”.
Speaking to the media after the parliament session, Chadha further explained his argument with analogies. “For example, if you put 20 liters of petrol in your car tank and use 15 liters in a month and 5 liters remain unused, the owner of the petrol station will not ask you to return the unused petrol because it has expired. If you have paid for 20 litres, you can use the full capacity. In the same way, data rollover should be allowed.”
He added that similar policies are in place in countries around the world, including the United States, Australia, the Netherlands and many other European countries.
What are the solutions to deal with unused data?
The MP made the following demands on the telcos on the matter during Zero Hour in Parliament:
𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐜𝐫𝐫𝐲-𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐫𝐐/ 𝐃𝐐/ 𝐡𝐫 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐯𝐫𝐫𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐭: 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 deleted when it expires.
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𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭 ❤ “ Consumers should not repeatedly pay for capacity they do not use.
𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐓𝐫𝐫𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐔𝐧𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐥 𝐽𝐥𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 a 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐝𝐬: Unused data should be considered digital property of the consumer. Users should be able to transfer their unused data to other people from their daily data limit, as well as transfer money to others.
“Monthly Recharge Scam”: Raghav Chadha
Earlier on March 11, the leader also raised the issue of 28-day ‘monthly’ recharge plans, calling it a ‘scam’.
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“I raised this in Parliament today. The telcos call their plans ‘monthly’ – but they only last 28 days. This means prepaid users pay for 13 top-ups per year instead of 12. 28 days x 13 top-ups = 364 days. If it’s monthly, it should follow the actual calendar month. Consumers deserve better. Not these clever tricks,” X said in the post.
Chadha also proposed joint filing of tax returns for married couples on March 16. The AAP leader in Parliament said his proposal seeks to equalize the burden on families with unequal incomes and get the same benefits as two spouses with similar earnings. He explained that under the current system, individuals pay taxes separately and combined income is not considered, ignoring the reality of “One roof. One kitchen. One household budget.”
In particular, joint taxation of married couples’ incomes is already in practice in many developed economies, including France, Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom. Chadha’s said his proposal seeks to improve fairness for single-income households and provide similar benefits to dual-income families.
