Reliance Jio on Saturday followed Bharti Airtel’s lead to bundle prepaid plans with Disney+ Hotstar VIP 1 Year subscription. Jio however unlike Airtel is offering 4 data add on and two prepaid plans bundled with Disney+ Hotstar VIP whereas Airtel is currently only providing just 1 data pack bundled with Disney+ Hotstar VIP.
There is a remarkable difference in the offering of both the telecom giants. In this article, we take a look at the prepaid plans being offered by both the telecom operators.
Bharti Airtel
Bharti Airtel at this point of time currently only offers one prepaid plan bundled with Disney+ Hotstar VIP. Airtel’s Rs 401 prepaid plan provides 3 GB of high speed data, validity of 28 days along with Disney+ Hotstar VIP 1 Year subscription.
Whether Airtel responds to Jio’s PR onslaught followed by the launch of 6 Hotstar packs remains to be seen in the upcoming weeks.
| Pack | Plan Benefits | Disney+ Hotstar VIP 1 Year Subscription | Validity |
| Rs 401 | 3 GB Data | Yes | 28 Days |
Reliance Jio
Reliance Jio is offering 6 Hotstar packs, 2 plans with voice whereas the rest 4 plans are data add on packs. Out of the 4 data add on packs, 3 simply offer data benefits whereas 1 plan offers off-net calling and data benefits.
Jio’s Rs 401 Hotstar Pack offers 3 GB of high speed data per day, unlimited on-net calling and 1000 mins off-net calling, 100 SMS per day, complimentary subscription to Jio apps, 1 year subscription to Disney+ Hotstar VIP, with a plan validity of 28 days. Jio is offering 6 GB complementary data extra, taking the total data upto 90 GB.
Jio’s Rs 2599 Hotstar Pack offers 2 GB of high speed data per day, unlimited on-net calling and 12000 mins off-net calling, 100 SMS per day, complimentary subscription to Jio apps, 1 year subscription to Disney+ Hotstar VIP, with a plan validity of 365 days. Jio is offering 10 GB complementary data extra, taking the total data upto 740 GB.
Jio’s Rs 612 Hotstar Pack offers 72 GB of high speed data, 6000 mins off-net calling, 100 SMS per day, 1 year subscription to Disney+ Hotstar VIP, with existing plan validty.
Jio’s Rs 1004 Hotstar Pack offers 200 GB of high speed data, 1 year subscription to Disney+ Hotstar VIP, with 120 days validty. The plan offers bulk data without any daily data cap. It however has a monthly cap of 50 GB.
Jio’s Rs 1206 Hotstar Pack offers 240 GB of high speed data, 1 year subscription to Disney+ Hotstar VIP, with 180 days validty. The plan offers bulk data without any daily data cap. It however has a monthly cap of 40 GB.
Jio’s Rs 1208 Hotstar Pack offers 240 GB of high speed data, 1 year subscription to Disney+ Hotstar VIP, with 240 days validty. The plan offers bulk data without any daily data cap. It however has a monthly cap of 30 GB.
| Pack | Plan Benefits | Disney+ Hotstar VIP 1 Year Subscription | Validity |
| Rs 401 | 90 GB data, unlimited on-net calling, 1000 minutes off-net calling, complimentary subscription to Jio apps, and 100 SMS/day | Yes | 28 Days |
| Rs 2599 | 740 GB data, unlimited on-net calling, 12000 minutes off-net calling, complimentary subscription to Jio apps, and 100 SMS/day | Yes | 365 Days |
| Rs 612 | 72 GB data and 6000 minutes off-net calling | Yes | Existing Plan |
| Rs 1004 | 200 GB data (50 GB/month * 4 cycles) | Yes | 120 Days |
| Rs 1206 | 240 GB data (40 GB/month * 6 cycles) | Yes | 180 Days |
| Rs 1208 | 240 GB data (30 GB/month * 8 cycles) | Yes | 240 Days |
The Catch (Terms and Conditions)
After seeing Jio’s Rs 401 prepaid plan you would have thought that it is far better than Airtel’s Rs 401 prepaid plan. Therein, likes a stark difference between both the operator’s bundled Hotstar packs.
Disney+ Hotstar VIP content access will continue even if you port out of Airtel, migrates to Airtel postpaid, or shift to another prepaid plan during the validity of the Disney+ Hotstar VIP subscription. In short, the Disney+ Hotstar VIP subscription purchased via Airtel will work independently of the existing Disney+ Hotstar VIP subscription customer. After 28 days Airtel teleco data benefit is over, but the Disney+ Hotstar VIP subscription continues for full 365 days from date of recharge.
Jio, on the other hand doesn’t offer this independence with customers recharging with plans having less than 1 year validity having their Disney+ Hotstar VIP 1 year subscription linked to them carrying out subsequent recharges without gap in validity till 1 year, on any of the Jio plan to continue receiving benefits under the Offer.
Airtel Rs 401 Disney+ Hotstar VIP plan vs Jio Rs 401 Disney+ Hotstar VIP plan
This is the lone plan that can be compared between Airtel and Jio. That said, the comparison is stark due to the terms and conditions Jio is offering.
Airtel’s Rs 401 prepaid plan offers a meagre 3 GB data with a validity of 28 days bundled with Disney+ Hotstar VIP 1 subscription. However, you need not recharge your Airtel number beyond the expiration of validity if you wish.
Jio’s Rs 401 prepaid plan offers 90 GB of data, unlimited on-net calling, 1000 mins off-net calling, 100 SMS per day, complimentary subscription to Jio apps, with a validity of 28 days. However, incase you don’t recharge your account after this, the Disney+ Hotstar VIP subscription won’t be accessible.
To keep the subscription alive, you need to recharge without a gap for the next 337 days. You need to shell another Rs 1299 minimum to enjoy the subscription for another 336 days. The Rs 1299 plan however only offers 24 GB of data which means you will either use your broadband connection to enjoy the subscription or subscribe to Jio’s plan having more data, hence in turn generating more revenue for Jio. This more or less bounds you to the operator, with the teleco plan benefit and Disney+ Hotstar VIP benefit not independent of each other.
Conclusion
Bharti Airtel’s Rs 401 plan is better as you won’t remain tied to a particular operator for the whole year to enjoy the subscription. Since you are mainly buying the pack for the VIP subscription and not the telecom service, Jio should have made the subscription independent of the telecom subscription.
