Is your phone running out of balance? Here are offers from Jio, Airtel, Vodafone Idea

NEW DELHI: Amidst the nationwide lockdown, telecom operators are opening multiple avenues for users to recharge their phone numbers remotely. Besides payment options on their apps/websites via debit card/credit card, mobile wallets, UPI and net banking, telcos are leveraging essential retail outlets such as grocery stores, pharmacies, kirana stores and ATMs. For feature phone users, who might not have access to internet, top-ups via SMS/missed call have also been activated. In fact, an end-to-end digital process for issuing new SIM cards and porting phone numbers is awaiting government’s nod. Such digital recharge processes also help telcos save costs.

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Airtel


· Extended validity of 80mn low-end users till April 17, given Rs 10 talktime credit

· Pay via mobile wallets: Airtel Payments Bank, Paytm, Amazon Pay

· Top-up via SMS for ICICI Bank and Axis Bank account holders

· Airtel Superhero initiative offers 4% cashback to those who recharge for friends, family, senior citizens

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Reliance Jio

· 100 minutes of talk time and 100 text messages to all its users till April 17, 2020.

· Top-up via SMS for ICICI Bank and Axis Bank account holders

· Pay via mobile wallets JioMoney, Mobikwik, FreeCharge, Amazon Pay, Paytm, Phonepe

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Vodafone Idea


- Extended validity of 100 mn low-end users till April 17, given Rs 10 talktime credit

· Top-up via SMS for ICICI, Axis, Kotak Mahindra and IndusInd Bank account holders

· Top-up via SMS and missed call for HDFC Bank account holders

· Pay via mobile wallet: Paytm

· #RechargeForGood initiative offers 6% cashback to those who recharge for others

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- With the lockdown extended till May 3, telcos need to decide on further extending the validity period beyond April 17.

Quote:

“The upward trend in digital recharges caused by the lockdown can actually save telcos’ spending on distribution costs as digital platforms tend to generate user stickiness in the long run.”

--Sathish Gopalaiah, partner and telecom sector leader, Deloitte India.