A few days back Bharti Airtel’s terms and conditions listings went live with IDFC Loan listings which would allow eligible 2G customers to upgrade to 4G handsets of their choice on loan through a specified down payment. The listing went down pretty quickly but has resurfaced this time with enhanced structural detail about the offer dubbed as ‘Device and Recharge Lending Offer’.
As stated earlier the offer is only available for those who are using non-4G and 5G mobile handsets and been active on Airtel’s network for at least 60 days. Airtel will tieup with specified banks and NBFCs to extend the loan offer with IDFC likely to be among them.
As part of the offer, one has to pay the specified down-payment followed by monthly EMIs for the bundled handset phone and Airtel tariff offer which was to be chosen by the customer.
During the offer one can’t port out to any other telecom service provider nor migrate from pre-paid to post-paid nor can you shift to any Airtel plan voucher, other than the one opted at the time of subscribing to the loan and specific STV and top-up vouchers. The moment the offer is activated it will terminate the Airtel tariff that was active on your Airtel mobile number and the plan voucher activated.
Plans covered under the scheme
| Tenure | Price | Benefits |
|---|---|---|
| 180 days | 1199 | Unlimited calling + 1.5GB per day + 100SMS per day |
| 210 days | 1399 | Unlimited calling + 1.5GB per day + 100SMS per day |
| 270 days | 1799 | Unlimited calling + 1.5GB per day + 100SMS per day |
| 330 days | 2199 | Unlimited calling + 1.5GB per day + 100SMS per day |
Airtel has given an illustrative calculation to showcase the zero extra cost claim put forward by it by giving an example of a Rs 5,000 handset being bought by the customer in two different ways.
Illustration of Zero Extra cost calculation
If you were to go with the plan provided by Airtel’s lending partner the total down payment is Rs 2713 with an EMI of Rs 469 per month. The loan tenure will be for 10 months with the total cost for the customer coming out to Rs 7403.
| Plan with Airtel Lending partner | Open market price |
|---|---|
| Total down payment – INR 2,713 | Device price – INR 5,000 |
| EMI per month – INR 469 | Airtel 28 day bundled pack with 1.5 GB data and Unlimited calls – INR 249 |
| Loan tenure – 10 months | Airtel telco cost for 330 days : 249/28*330 = INR 2,935 |
| Total cost of the customer – 2,713 + 469*10 months = INR 7403 | Total cost to the customer : 5000 + 2,935 = INR 7,935 |
Airtel states that the open market price for the would-be pegged at Rs 7,935 with device price at Rs 5000, Airtel 28 day bundled pack with 1.5GB data and unlimited calls costing Rs 249 which translates to Rs 2935 for 330 days, and the total cost for the customer coming out to Rs 7,935.
The numbers used are purely for illustrative purposes based on one handset model, one loan tenure, and one lender partner. The actual figures will vary depending upon the Lender, Device, and EMI tenure.
Apart from the Rs 1199, Rs 1399, Rs 1799, and Rs 2199 plan vouchers which have to selected initially one can also choose any of the aforesaid specific STV and top-up recharges at the time of subscribing to the loan.
List of allowed recharges
| 10 | 18 | 20 | 46 | 48 | 98 | 100 |
| 251 | 401 | 496 | 500 | 648 | 649 | 755 |
| 799 | 997 | 1000 | 1199 | 1499 | 2499 | 3598 |
| 3599 | 3997 | 3998 | 4999 | 5000 | 6999 |
The list of allowed recharges is made up of top-ups, data packs, ISD packs, and international roaming recharge packs. Airtel customers will have the entire portfolio of STVs and top-ups at their selection but limited choices when it comes to the plan voucher selection.
