Seeking Help Using Airtel Service in Nepal for OTPs

[anon]

Hey, got a question. I am going to Nepal for a longer time frame (1.5 years) and I need to keep my sim card active just for receiving incoming sms i.e. bank otp. I know that the incoming sms are free for airtel even without buying any roaming pack. So, i was thinking of buying the cheapest available package i.e. Rs.199/28 days [Unlimited Calls, 2 GB data, 300 SMS] and recharging my number every 90 days to ensure that i do not lose my phone number. But, every online portal for Airtel online says that there needs to be atleast one outgoing/incoming call, outgoing sms or data session within 90 days for the sim to stay active.
And that is confusing me. Does this mean that even after recharging my number with the Rs.199/28 days pack within 90 days from expiry, i might lose my number if i dont have any outgoing calls or sms in that 90 day period?
Does anyone have any idea about this?

 

[k939]

just recharge with the annual plan , 1899 i think for 365 days. you will be set. no need to be penny wise and pound foolish.
edit: it is 1999. you will be in Nepal and with so many things to take care of in new place it will be one less headache for you to keep track of.

 

[anon]

just recharge with the annual plan , 1899 i think for 365 days. you will be set. no need to be penny wise and pound foolish.
edit: it is 1999. you will be in Nepal and with so many things to take care of in new place it will be one less headache for you to keep track of.

Yes, I'd most probably do the annual plan. But still, i just wanted to know if the requirement was to do an outgoing call/sms every 90 days if i were to not recharge my sim with a plan.

The Airtel website says:
"According to TRAI consumer handbook, a sim card is deemed to be deactivated in case of non-usage for over 90 days (about 3 months). The non-usage here means zero incoming or outgoing calls/messages, no data sessions, no use of value-added services, and any related payment." Source

The incoming or outgoing portion confused me because some places online said you need to have an outgoing call or message within 90 days from plan expiry. But if an incoming sms can also count as activity, then i would not need to send an outgoing sms for a charge every 90 days and can just receive otp as an incoming sms for free after reactivating the Rs.199 pack every 90 days.

I need to provide this information to someone else as well and thus, am trying to understand all the available options instead of just suggesting them the Rs.1999/year pack as well.

 

[Sivabhaskar]

Yes, I'd most probably do the annual plan. But still, i just wanted to know if the requirement was to do an outgoing call/sms every 90 days if i were to not recharge my sim with a plan.

The Airtel website says:
"According to TRAI consumer handbook, a sim card is deemed to be deactivated in case of non-usage for over 90 days (about 3 months). The non-usage here means zero incoming or outgoing calls/messages, no data sessions, no use of value-added services, and any related payment." Source

The incoming or outgoing portion confused me because some places online said you need to have an outgoing call or message within 90 days from plan expiry. But if an incoming sms can also count as activity, then i would not need to send an outgoing sms for a charge every 90 days and can just receive otp as an incoming sms for free after reactivating the Rs.199 pack every 90 days.

I need to provide this information to someone else as well and thus, am trying to understand all the available options instead of just suggesting them the Rs.1999/year pack as well.

1) The 199 pack does come with 2GB of data valid for the whole 28 days. I believe that this 2GB would work outside of India if the user had activated the International Roaming feature for their Airtel Number. If it works, you could then turn ON the data roaming functionality on your phone (for this SIM Card) exactly on the 28th day of each recharge & use that 2GB data for a minute or something. Since it is International Roaming, be warned that this data would get over in a matter of minutes if you keep using it. And then it will maliciously start eating the Main Balance (talktime), if the number has any such balance.

The IR "feature" itself is free of cost to activate. It is different from an IR "Pack". Please read my replies in the thread quoted below for further details on Airtel's International Roaming (IR) feature. Clicking my name on the quoted post should take you to that thread.

2) That said, I have a tertiary Airtel Prepaid number which I have not recharged ever since its yearly plan's validity ended in September 2021. I'm not sure what Airtel uses as criteria before they reallocate a prepaid number, but I still seem to have this number with me & not reallocated yet. I'm just speculating here, but the reasons for this could be :

a) I purchased this number in 2016 as postpaid & immediately changed it to prepaid (within a month or so of purchasing it). But still, it is a relatively older number (8+ years now).

b) I still have Rs.128.80 as main balance & 46MB of 4G data as leftover data balance, which came from a previous prepaid plan that don't even remember.

c ) I have this tertiary number added as an additional number in the Airtel Thanks app after logging into that app using my Primary Airtel Prepaid number. That app is where the following screenshot is from. An additional point would be that this tertiary number is also in my name.

All of this was to say that Airtel may not be too stringent on the 90 day TRAI guideline for mobile number reallocations. They may also take into consideration how old a number is & whether or not the number has any Main Balance.

So I would suggest you to add enough talktime to this number's Main Balance, so that it goes over Rs.200 (greater than the minimum prepaid pack's price of Rs.199). And also add this number in the Airtel Thanks app as an additional number to another number that belongs to a family member/friend who's going to be continually using that number here in India.

As long as you have activated the International Roaming (IR) Service for your Airtel Prepaid number, you should receive your SMS-es free of charge.

1) Even if you don't have an active IR Pack for your number, as long as you have the IR Service activated for your number, you should receive free incoming SMS-es.
2) If you have an active IR Pack (any valid IR Pack for the travelling country), then even all INCOMING CALLS are free.
3) Even if you don't have an active IR Pack for your number, as long as you have the IR Service activated for your number, if you ever pick up an incoming call OR make an outgoing call OR send an outgoing SMS, Airtel will automatically activate the lowest costing daily pack for that country (so that you are not charged too much from your prepaid Main Balance by the end of the day).

So if you just want to receive incoming SMS and nothing else, then do these 2 steps:

1) Active the IR Service for your number (refer link 2 below) before your travel.
2) Before your flight takes off from India, remember to DISABLE DATA ROAMING for your Airtel Sim Card, because if your phone even accidentally uses data while travelling abroad, Airtel will automatically activate the lowest costing pack as explained in #3 above.

Links:

1) Airtel announced free incoming on international roaming. Airtel's new IR packs offer free incoming calls, free texts to India and ample data benefits along with free India calling minutes.

2) How to Activate International Roaming?

3) IR Service Frequently Asked Questions

4) IR Packs

 

[stiwari]

Bro do 1 year minimum recharge pack,and do not save money for that as with minimum 1 year pack,they will not play with you,they may block incoming message if you have a shorter pack,be safe.In three months send a message back to India which may cost you Rs25 just to save your number if you are not visiting in 3 months by doing a top up of Rs50 or 100.My resent visit to Nepal my no.incoming message worked. . . . https://assets.airtel.in/static-assets/online-recharge-ui/assets/pdf/standard-charges.pdf