Airtel Telecom has quietly increased the call charges of the Rs.99 base plan. It seems that this rate hike is only applicable to prepaid customers.
Airtel is one of the leading telecom companies in India. Crores of people are using this network for their telecommunication needs. From time to time, telecom companies including Airtel change their tariffs. Accordingly, Airtel has now changed the call charges for Rs.99 plan which is the basic and minimum recharge validity plan of the company.
Rs.99 Plan: Customers using Airtel prepaid SIM cards can avail outgoing and incoming calls (call connectivity) only if they recharge plans of at least Rs.99 or above. Airtel and Vodafone Idea implemented this mandatory recharge procedure in 2018. It was explained at the time that this arrangement was to meet the challenge of the rival company.
Before that, Airtel and Vodafone Idea prepaid cards provided free incoming calls facility. This free incoming feature was brought on the recommendation of TRAI. Through that, SIM cards were sold on behalf of this company saying that all cards are free for lifetime incoming calls. But over time, Airtel and Vodafone Idea changed plans to pressurize Jio’s entry.
According to them, incoming calls will be available only if you recharge at least Rs.35. And that it will only go until the specified day. These companies said that they have to recharge after it expires. They also enjoyed the benefits that came with it. Most of the people who use these cards have switched to a minimum recharge or use only one SIM card in their phones.
Little by little this mandatory or basic recharge fee has been increased. 35, 49, 79 and finally 99 from 2018 to 2021 (October – November) this price has been increased.
In this case, now the tariff of Rs.99 plan has been increased without any noise. Now an Airtel prepaid customer can get Rs 99 talk time on recharge of Rs.99. Its validity is 28 days. At the same time, this plan has a deduction of 2.5 paise per second for outgoing calls. Airtel seems to have implemented this change in the last week of June. Vodafone Idea has also brought the same change in the same plan in the company’s way.
Earlier one recharged for 99 rupees and can get talk time for 99 rupees. 28 days validity, outgoing calls are charged at 1 paise per second.
Shankar, who owns a mobile recharge shop in Puducherry, said that the change made in the 99 plan has failed to gain attention as most of the customers are using unlimited call and data recharge plans.
Other New Plans: Airtel has also introduced some new plans in the basic plan. It has come up with Rs 109, Rs 111, Rs 128 and Rs 131 plans. Vodafone Idea has come up with Rs 107 and Rs 111 plans. All these plans have a validity of one month (30 days).