Telecom service providers Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have extended the incoming service for low-income customers up to May 3, 2020. Earlier, both TSP had announced free incoming service till April 17 which has now been extended given the extended lockdown period.
Airtel today said that it had earlier announced special measures to help low-income customers on its network during the COVID-19 pandemic including the extension of validity of their mobile prepaid packs till April 17, 2020.
It noted that many of these customers had been able to recharge their accounts using several channels including ATMs, Post Offices, Grocery stores, and Chemist shops, in addition to digital channels.
However, keeping in mind that around 30 million customers had still not been able to recharge their pre-paid mobile accounts, Airtel has now extended the validity of these accounts until May 3, 2020. All customers will be able to receive incoming calls on their Airtel mobile numbers even after the validity of their plan is exhausted.
Avneesh Khosla, Marketing Director, Vodafone Idea said, “Our endeavor is to ensure that all our customers remain connected at all times without worrying about any disruption, especially in these troubled times. In order to ensure that consumers stay connected during this extended lock down, we are extending the incoming service validity of 90 mn consumers till May 3rd. This would effectively mean that these consumers can use their phones for receiving incoming calls unhindered.
Vodafone Idea has also extended the provision of unrestricted incoming service so as to ensure that millions of feature phone users of Vodafone Idea will be able to receive incoming calls, even if the validity of their plan expires earlier.
The incoming validity extension is being credited in the accounts of all eligible customers, as fast as possible over the coming days.
TRAI had earlier wanted the three private telecom operators to extend the validity of prepaid packs atleast till May 3.
