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Trai places ceiling on SMS, calls for entertainment and gaming
NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has put a ceiling of four times on tariff for calls and SMSes meant for participating in contests and games; or for voting in television and radio programmes.
In the amendments to the Telecommunication Tariff Order (TTO), Trai inserted a new Schedule XIII for this purpose. These measures are being issued through amendment in Telecommunication Tariff Order (Fifty First Amendment); The Telecom Consumer Protection Regulations, 2012; and through two sets of Directions relating to publication of telecom tariff plans and preventing misleading advertisements.
Keeping in view the fact that calls and SMS made for participating in competition and voting hardly contain any content, the Authority has mandated that tariff for such calls and SMS shall not exceed four times of the applicable local call/ SMS charges. The amendment also provides flexibility to service providers to apply revision in ILD tariff uniformly for new as well as existing subscribers.
The Authority has decided not to interfere with the currently prevailing ceiling of 25 tariff plans that can be offered by a service provider at any given point of time.
But it has become mandatory for service providers to offer in each service area at least one tariff plan each for both postpaid and prepaid subscriber with a uniform pulse rate of ‘one second’. The rates for Premium Rate Services currently levied by service providers are substantially higher vis-?-vis the normal tariff applicable for a two-way communication due to the fact that the charges levied also include the price for content.
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
