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

[Zmint]

I have intentionally stopped the auto-deduct service to maintain ongoing "service validity". This term service validity is a new thing coined by the telcos to fool us customers. Since I stopped the auto-deduct, it did not do it, but my question is why will they deactivate it in 90 days even when I have sufficient balance?

Bro. any idea how to stop auto-deduct in Airtel ?

 

[mmadhankumar]

my question is why will they deactivate it in 90 days even when I have sufficient balance?

Because they do business not service. It's an indirect way of saying, "either stay with us or leave us. Don't be dormant." All telecos rely on ARPU and it drops a lot with dormant customers.

Most of us have either a VF or Airtel number which we use primarily. It will be linked with bank, aadhar, gas, credit cards, etc. Hence we don't want to lose that number. So that number might be an asset to us but it's a liability for the telco if it doesn't genarate any revenue.

They aren't forcing anyone to stay with them. Just throw away the number or port. As simple as that. If we EMPATHIZE the situation from telcos shoes we would agree what they do is right.

Don't think i am supporting telcos. I am saying the fact from a neutral point of view. I am saying this although I recharge one VF (my personal number) and one Airtel (business number) every month with this validity pack. I hate to do it but i understand why this thing happened.

 

[TJ_DJ]

Because they do business not service. It's an indirect way of saying, "either stay with us or leave us. Don't be dormant." All telecos rely on ARPU and it drops a lot with dormant customers.

Most of us have either a VF or Airtel number which we use primarily. It will be linked with bank, aadhar, gas, credit cards, etc. Hence we don't want to lose that number. So that number might be an asset to us but it's a liability for the telco if it doesn't genarate any revenue.

They aren't forcing anyone to stay with them. Just throw away the number or port. As simple as that. If we EMPATHIZE the situation from telcos shoes we would agree what they do is right.

Don't think i am supporting telcos. I am saying the fact from a neutral point of view. I am saying this although I recharge one VF (my personal number) and one Airtel (business number) every month with this validity pack. I hate to do it but i understand why this thing happened.

Agree with ur point, but then even TRAI rule should be that way.

 

[Esmail]

Agree with ur point, but then even TRAI rule should be that way.

TRAI has not set any rule about minimum or maximum denomination of any recharge. The telcos are free to charge 1re or 1000rs a month. The user is free to use or not use the operators services or to port. There is no injustice anywhere in the system.

 

[Zmint]

Today I got the following message :
"Airtel Pack expired on 07-May-19. You have been given 1 day grace on validity. If not recharged, Rs23 will be deducted tonight from balance for 28 days validity. To stop the auto-debit, dial*121*777# or recharge"

Considering that I use this number only for incoming, anybody have some idea, what will happen if I stop auto-debit .... and do not recharge ?
Outgoing will stop for sure, but what about incoming .... will it stop immediately ? What will be my incoming switch-off date ?

If found the following info in google. Can someone confirm ?
What happen if your Balance Is Zero ?
If in your Sim Card having 0 Balance then your Incoming and Outgoing will Stopped But Sms will be Continue Delivered Until you Recharged your Sim at least Rs 35 Plan. You have to do Recharge Before 90 Days from grace Period otherwise your Number Will be Sale to Other Users.

 

[Zmint]

I just called Airtel CC and this is the info I got.
"If I deactivate auto-debit, then my Outgoing will stop immediately after current plan expiry and Incoming will stop after 14 days."
As I need only incoming on this number, I will let my outgoing stop and recharge again after 13 days to extend SIM active.
In nutshell, at present I am getting 28 days incoming validity for 23 Rs/-. Later I will get 42 days validity for the same amount.
Lets hope it works as planed

 

[Sarkar]

I just called Airtel CC and this is the info I got.
"If I deactivate auto-debit, then my Outgoing will stop immediately after current plan expiry and Incoming will stop after 14 days."
As I need only incoming on this number, I will let my outgoing stop and recharge again after 13 days to extend SIM active.
In nutshell, at present I am getting 28 days incoming validity for 23 Rs/-. Later I will get 42 days validity for the same amount.
Lets hope it works as planed

Why don't you just port to BSNL and use Rs 51 for 1 year validity.

 

[Zmint]

Why don't you just port to BSNL and use Rs 51 for 1 year validity.

That is a good idea
Although I ported few of my family members to BSNL but not know why I did not port myself
Now that you have mentioned it, I will sure scrutinize it.

 

[TJ_DJ]

TRAI has not set any rule about minimum or maximum denomination of any recharge. The telcos are free to charge 1re or 1000rs a month. The user is free to use or not use the operators services or to port. There is no injustice anywhere in the system.

There is certainly injustice in the system. Read the TRAI handbook (link given in my previous post). It clearly states that if a "non-usage" period of 90 days is observed, then the telcos may deduct Rs 20 and further extend the "non-usage" period by 30 days at a time. This means that so long as there is sufficient balance in main account of the prepaid number, the number can not be permanently deactivated. This is as per mentioned in TRAI Handbook.

Excerpt from TRAI Handbook:
Deactivation of a mobile connection due to non-usage

• No Prepaid mobile connection shall be deactivated on account of non-usage for a minimum period of 90 days.
• Non-usage means absence of any incoming or outgoing call or outgoing SMS or data session or usage or value added services or payment of rental.
• Beyond 90 days, an amount not exceeding Rs 20 shall be deducted from the Pre-paid account, if balance is available, for extension of the period of non-usage by 30 days at a time.

TRAI Handbook link: https://main.trai.gov.in/sites/default/files/TRAI_Handbook_2018_Eng.pdf

Now the question: Why do I have so much balance in main account? It is because, earlier, due to a prior TRAI rule, it was required to recharge minimum Rs 200 every 6 months, and rightfully abiding by TRAI rules, I did such recharges (although telcos were not enforcing the deactication if not done). I did follow the rules that time, and so have got this balance in my main account.

My only concern is - now the telcos should follow the current rule of TRAI, because me (and all other users) did follow the previous rule of TRAI as well.

 

[TJ_DJ]

I just called Airtel CC and this is the info I got.
"If I deactivate auto-debit, then my Outgoing will stop immediately after current plan expiry and Incoming will stop after 14 days."
As I need only incoming on this number, I will let my outgoing stop and recharge again after 13 days to extend SIM active.
In nutshell, at present I am getting 28 days incoming validity for 23 Rs/-. Later I will get 42 days validity for the same amount.
Lets hope it works as planed

Yes, a better option is:
1. Disable the auto-debit using *121*777#
2. After your plan expires after 28 days, incoming will continue for 15 days. Dial *123# anytime to check Incoming validity.
3. On the 16th day incoming will stop. Now recharge Rs 35. This gives you Rs 26.66 talktime. And extends outgoing validity by 28 days and incoming validity by 28+15 = 43 days. Hence, effective cost = (35 - 26.66) = Rs 8.34.
4. Thus, for Rs 8.34, you get 43 days validity. This works out to be Rs 70.79 per year. Probably this is the ARPU calculation by the telcos to get in at least Rs 70 per user per year.
5. RISK: You may risk this by not recharging your number till 90 days post plan expiry. So this gives you 28+90 = 118 days for Rs 8.34. This now works out to be Rs 25.79 per year.

Note: Once incoming validity expires, Airtel stops incoming SMS too, but Vodafone allows incoming SMS till 90 days (in case you want to use for OTP, then only Vodafone will work for u, Airtel will not).