Jan 24, 2025 11:04 AM IST
Some of Jio and Airtel’s newly listed prepaid recharge options aren’t exactly new, but existing plans that have been modified, by removing 4G/5G data
Over the past few days, telecom service providers Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vi have listed new voice and SMS only prepaid plans. The timing isn’t coincidental, since telcos had to follow through on the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) guidelines announced in December, for Special Tariff Vouchers, or STVs. The guidance on affordability particularly for “elderly persons and those living in rural areas” was clear, but tariff plans that have since been announced aren’t truly affordable. The other fallout is, certain existing recharge plans, have been replaced with more expensive alternatives.
TRAI has taken note of Jio’s ₹458 and ₹1,958 plans, Airtel’s ₹499 and ₹1,959 recharge packs and Vi’s ₹1,460 pack, and in a statement, clarified the regulatory mechanism. “It has come to notice of TRAI that recently few service providers have launched voice and SMS only packs which will be reported to TRAI with in seven working days from the date of launch. The recently launched vouchers will be examined by TRAI as per extant regulatory provisions,” they say.
The reason why there has been extensive commentary on the newly listed voice and SMS only packs, is the cost attached with it. Incidentally, some of the telecom service providers are listing these plans under the “value” banner.
Airtel confirms to HT that the newly listed plans include the ₹499 plan with voice calls and 900 SMS with an 84 days validity, alongside the ₹1,959 recharge option with voice calls and 3,600 SMS for a period of 365 days. “Both plans come with additional benefits under Airtel Rewards, including three months of Apollo 24/7 Circle membership and free Hello Tune service,” the company says.
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The ₹499 plan means that if you want 4G/5G data, the next best recharge pack costs ₹548, with 7GB data. Similarly, for the 365 days recharge duration pack, Airtel prepaid users will have to shell out ₹2,249.
Reliance Jio, with a relatively similar template, has listed a ₹458 plan with 84 days validity, bundling voice calls and 1000SM. Regular Jio prepaid users would realise, there earlier used to be a similarly priced plan which bundled 6GB 4G/5G data as well. Jio has simply removed the data bundle from this recharge denomination (that’s spawned a new ₹579 plan, with 6GB data). There is also a new ₹1,958 plan, with 365 days validity. This may effectively replaces the erstwhile ₹1,899 plan that also bundled 24GB data.
Vi, for now, has only one voice and SMS pack—that’s priced at ₹1,460, with a 270 day validity.
If we are to revisit TRAI’s guidelines released in December, they clearly state, “To mandate separate Special Tariff Voucher (STV) for Voice & SMS to give consumers an option to pay for the services they require in general and to provide benefit to certain segments of consumers especially the elderly persons and those living in rural areas.” While these recharge packs are affordable if we are to take the per-day metric of cost (the Jio ₹458 plan works out to ₹5.4 per day), the recharge denominations required by a user, aren’t small amounts.
The need of the hour may be 28-day or 30-day recharge packs for voice and SMS, for those who’d prefer affordability over the convenience of a longer validity recharge.
While the telecom service providers may want to lock in this user base for a longer duration with these packs, the overall structuring has meant that a larger demographic of prepaid users (those who recharge for data usage as well, with typical voice+SMS+data) will now have to shell out more for their next recharge, than before.
It is expected that Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vi will formally share the newly listed voice and SMS recharge plans with TRAI in the coming days.
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