Jio and Airtel have cut the prices of calling+SMS only tariff plans. After the action of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India i.e. TRAI, Jio has reduced the price by Rs 210 and Airtel by Rs 110. In fact, TRAI had recently ordered telecom companies to provide a separate option of Voice + SMS only pack to their users. After this, the companies released new tariff plans only for voice calling + SMS, but kept their price the same as the data plans and removed only the data from them.
New Prepaid Plans
- Airtel: In Airtel’s 84 days, users are given the benefit of 900 free SMS along with unlimited calling across India. The price of this plan is Rs 469.
- Jio: In Jio’s 84 days, users are given the benefit of 1,000 free SMS along with unlimited calling across India. The price of this plan is Rs 448.
- Vodafone Idea: In the 84 days of Vi, users are given the benefit of 900 free SMS along with unlimited calling across India. The price of this plan is Rs 470.
- BSNL: Government telecom company is offering voice only plan for Rs 439 to its users. The validity of this plan is 90 days and 300 free SMS are being given along with unlimited calling.
TRAI Rules
TRAI has issued a new guideline, according to which all the telecom companies of India were instructed to bring such plans as soon as possible, which have only voice and SMS facilities. This is beneficial for those users who are using 2G phones or dual SIM. In such a situation, they can use one of their SIM only for calling or messaging. That means they will not have to recharge every SIM with a data pack.
Loss of customers in new tariff plan
The customers do not get any benefit from the new tariff plans of the companies, rather they will only suffer losses. For example, earlier the annual plan of Airtel was Rs 1999. In this, customers used to get 24 GB data, but the company removed 24 GB data from it and launched this plan only in the name of voice plan to the customers.
Now Airtel has priced the plan with 365 days validity at Rs 1849, which includes unlimited voice calling and 3,600 SMS. Apart from this, it also offers Apollo 24/7 Circle subscription and free Hello Tunes for 3 months.
