Sad News Airtel, Idea and Vodafone now requires you to recharge with a minimum pack to keep your sim alive

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You are correct brother, as far as it is about most of us tech savvy and salaried people. But taking all operators' current scenario (except BSNL), there is a huge section in Indian society for whom 49 rupees per month is a big deal too, and so is 35 rupees. Some use only for incoming and essential O/G calls.
Jio's move followed by current AVoId's move has definitely been against consumer interest of quite a good chunk of our society.

There is hidden cost behind 35rs recharge .
Once 49 recharge on Jio is done , no need to worry about anything for 28 days . Unlike avoid where 35 is just sim activation validity for 28 days. You still require calling reduced recharge pack which cost around 30rs . So monthly recharge price goes high.

And in between this if AVoId on purpose started any VAS on your sim like they used to do earlier , boom you need to recharge then .
 
So according to your meaningless logic when Avoid were charging us 300rs/2gb "2G" net that was ok but suddenly when Jio arrived he fooled us ?? (Your statement suggest so) .He can fool 1 - 2 or max 1000 people , not entire India .
People were tired of these operators unethical trade practices . Remember nobody is here for charity . Jio saw an perfect opportunity and seized it . People were tired of AVoId but they had no option other than paying 300rs for 2G internet .

Why do you think people migrated to Jio ? Because if free or because of tired of AVoId ??
Why suddenly rate of internet dropped 94% when Jio arrived ??

This has to happen . Avoid looted customers before . Now they paid the price .
About speed , I get around 10mbps on Jio anytime at my location. Vodafone 4g speed reminded me of 2010

About your logic : everybody has its own choice what to choose and what not to . Beside that there is mass number of people who could hit hard as they earn less than 100/day.


I completely agree with all your arguments except a bit. My apologies if some of my statements sounded otherwise. Let me rephrase.

I completely support Jio's entry in creating India's latest telecom revolution. It brought G and wireless broadband penetration to the masses. I was one of the Jio Preview users in fact. And of course everyone has a choice in selecting any product/service. But I am talking only about the general consumer interest versus business interest. All of Jio, Airtel, VoId are businesses, to some extent BSNL is too but it's main aim (in paper) is country's interest.
But the point is, Jio came, made data rates ultra low and network reach wide that was fine but thereafter for a basic user, Jio (and now AVoId) has been against the consumer interest of a basic user by making mandatory recharges for O/G and I/G (excluding I/G for Jio Prime). For a basic user, Jio user has to now spend 49 p.m. at least and 35 for AVoId so what should a user choose ? Across youtube etc... there has been a scare that AVoId need minimum recharges and people's primary response is : "Will port my 2nd SIM to Jio" without understanding. Some even feel that after using Combo/Unlimited packs, they still have to pay an amount per 28 days in case of AVoId. I just tried to clarify things.

My perspective is like : Jio came and brought tariffs down, that is in consumer interest so we support it but next if someone else is providing better stuff let's welcome that or stay with Jio after correctly understanding changes. Otherwise, yesterday AVoId was looting us and if AVoId fall then Jio will have no competition and loot us. Consumers got to switch back and forth to service providers with time in general. Individually depending on our requirements and finance, we can choose our own favorite.

Example: I am currently using Airtel, Jio and BSNL Mobile across my devices. I switched my primary from Jio to airtel since both cost the same for Unlimited packs but Jio offers slower data speeds and call quality issues. But I did not stop using Jio since it helps me with ViLTE video calls and wider 4G network (this may enable me to access data in emergency situation on the move, even if at lesser speeds).
But the performance varies as per area/circle too so it is upto the individual to choose.

In a nutshell, I just wanted to convey that if people are getting worried about spending 35 rupees per month to maintain a mobile connection (AVoId) then as on date (keeping BSNL Mobile apart), that is the most economical and porting to Jio is not the solution since basic services cost 49 or 98 in Jio. BSNL could be a better choice though, keeping apart absence of 4G/ network performance criteria.

For data/heavy voice/video users, there is a whole lot of plans and several 4G operators to choose as per their taste so I have nothing to say as individual choices vary.
 
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I don't agree, Rs 588 for 1 year is very cheap and now if you see everyone carries mobile with jio sim even the poorest can afford it.

Actually you don't always get to see the section who cannot afford it. But there are families who have to maintain 2-3 connections (like say one at home and 1 or 2 with children who are into basic graduation courses college) just for emergency calls (some of them mostly give missed calls to the ones who can afford to call them back) and now 49*3 is costly and mind you there are even quite a good number of people who cannot spend 49 rupees for a single connection per month.

But of course, bringing down costs to 49 p.m. has brought a huge %age of people into telecom network. (but from business perspective, again, you get to pay half of 98 = Rs. 49, only if you purchase a phone from Jio, the Jiophone where Jio makes another good business under 'LYF' though it is still good for us, as consumers to own a 4G Handset at such a low price with basic features). However I see several among the masses who can't dare to buy a jiophone suddenly so they have been continuing with AVoId and BSNL as Jio cannot latch on 2G/3G. Now this minimum recharge move by AVoId has been a cause of worry for them.
 
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Another googly by Vodafone. Received SMS:
Hi,you are on new plan wef 23Oct18. To extend service validity by 28 days, recharge with RC24 or above.

Now what is this RC24? All this while it was 35. Now down to 24. And what "new plan" ? Seriously these telcos have gone nuts.

TRAI should just reject all such gimmicks and tell them to continue as it was before.
+1. Seriously, falling revenues on secondary SIM has scared operators to such an extent that they are acting crazy after suddenly introducing minimum recharge plan. They have to keep finances well, and at the same time please customers while keeping cool of the boss, Mr. TRAI who will sue them if they try to implement something new all of a sudden just to set profit margin right overnight. :D

But one thing is certain, Jio did bring with it a storm in Indian telecom space. For that reason, thanks to team Jio & Ambanis. But part 1 was good which brought affordability and 4G expansion. However current scenario is extremely chaotic for consumers. TRAI and TDSAT must gear up !
 
There is hidden cost behind 35rs recharge .
Once 49 recharge on Jio is done , no need to worry about anything for 28 days . Unlike avoid where 35 is just sim activation validity for 28 days. You still require calling reduced recharge pack which cost around 30rs . So monthly recharge price goes high.

And in between this if AVoId on purpose started any VAS on your sim like they used to do earlier , boom you need to recharge then .

+1

@VAS activation : you made me recall the martyred telecom operator Reliance Mobile. :D
 
can you explain one thing, suppose AVOID customer is having Rs.200 balance without recharge how long they will continue the service, or they will directly disconnect the connection/SIM.
is Rs.35 recharged amount of Rs.26 TT will add into main balance or not.
one thing JIO is giving unlimited call for Rs.98 and along with 2 GB data. on Rs.49 jio is giving unlimited calls and along with 1GB data.
if AVOID can provide for same price of JIO, people will take the service. for example those who doesn't want use data why they will take AVOID non-sensible costly packs. As you said airtel speed, currently i am using Docomo(airtel network) maximum speed is 1.5 Mbps.
To be very honest, buddy the answer to your question is next to impossible at this moment. But let me explain the scenario.

For all users except who are using Combo/Unlimited packs, there is no crisis. They can chill as usual with any of AVoId or Jio.

For the AVoId basic users, AVoId has started asking for minimum recharges which may be monthly, where month = 28 days as per telcos :P (like 35 for 28 days) or maybe 45 days or so on. Simple logic is, you cannot continue for free on your AVoId SIM as backup.

But having said that, AVoId have introduced these "Smart" packs for all NEW customers (who are not interested in Combo packs) but yet EXISTING people's mobile accounts are showing varying validity expiry dates by default, ranging from 1 month to several years.

Now in the meantime, there has been public outcry and TRAI has come up asking AVoId to not disconnect services for those who have sufficient balance. Indirectly it means AVoId will deduct the minimum recharge value from balance per 28 days or so and keep services intact.

Overall however this is a big issue as a huge change will always be against citizens' interest so these terms will change every week now, cases will go to TRAI/TDSAT, maybe to apex court of India before being stabilized with a final guidelines and approval of new min. recharge system by TRAI.

Till then, consult customer care. If they are helpless, contact Nodal/Appellate authority and keep filing complaints with TRAI if possible so that a decision comes soon and so that in no way your connection is interrupted by AVoId.

For those who have no issues recharging 20-40 rupees per month (whether already having main balance or not) and for Unlimited Combo pack users : Dhondu just chill; All is Well for you guys. :D
 
Actually the minimum charge per month is good for everyone, we should use only dual sims only when it is absolute necessary and the operators will get something if some one is using their network and they can also survive. It will also reduce burden on network towers, Also more number of sims will cause more radiation which is harmful to environment. Watch 2.0 movie with strong vfx, it is released today which is having strong message for the mobile lovers and who use mobile unnecessarily and have more sims/mobile with them.
 
Actually the minimum charge per month is good for everyone, we should use only dual sims only when it is absolute necessary and the operators will get something if some one is using their network and they can also survive. It will also reduce burden on network towers, Also more number of sims will cause more radiation which is harmful to environment. Watch 2.0 movie with strong vfx, it is released today which is having strong message for the mobile lovers and who use mobile unnecessarily and have more sims/mobile with them.

So watching a movie made you realise that. Good but problem is a mass number of people who don't even earn 1$/day will get hit hard.

Rest what you said Totally agreed
 
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So watching a movie made you realise that. Good but problem is a mass number of people who don't even earn 1$/day will get hit hard.

Rest what you said Totally agreed
I always knows that mobile phones are not good for our health and emits harmful radiations and my mobile usage is very limited and inserting dual sims in one mobile greatly increases radiation levels emitted by that phone and is not recommended. 2.0 conveys the same message to masses, planning to watch that movie.
 
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