Reliance Jio on Tuesday has discontinued its entry-level plan for smartphones with the Rs 98 prepaid plan delisted from its prepaid listings. This plan though not available through third party recharge portals was exclusively available from within the ‘MyJio’ app. The entry-level point for smartphone bundled plans has increased by 30% after the removal of the Rs 98 prepaid plan.
According to the listings on the Reliance Jio website, the ‘smartphone plan’ section which housed the Rs 98 prepaid plan is no longer present. The ‘others’ section now only lists affordable packs and JioPhone plans. While Reliance Jio has on multiple occasions in the past shuffled the placement of its plans across the prepaid listings, with Rs 1299 and Rs 129 getting housed under the ‘Others’ section recently, this time around the Rs 98 prepaid plan has been completely delisted.
To recall, the Rs 129 prepaid plan had replaced the Rs 98 prepaid plan during the tariff hike before it was brought back a week later. The Rs 98 prepaid plan offered 2 GB high-speed data followed by 64 Kbps, unlimited on-net calling, 300 SMS, and complimentary subscription to Jio apps. IUC voucher was needed for off-net calling.
The entry-level point for the smartphone bundled plans is now Rs 129 i.e a 30% increase over the Rs 98 plan. The Rs 129 plan offers 1000 minutes of off-net calling on top of the Rs 98 plan benefits. The entry-level plan for Jio phone continues to be Rs 75 which offers 3 GB high-speed data (capped at 100 MB/day) followed by 64 Kbps, unlimited on-net calling, 500 mins off-net calling, 50 SMS, and complimentary subscription to Jio apps.
Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio seem to be silently trying to increase their ARPU further by pushing their customers onto higher plans. Airtel recently increased the data offerings on the Rs 98 data pack by 100% while keeping the Rs 48 data pack as it is. It also increased the Talktime offerings on its talk time vouchers above Rs 500 while leaving the Rs 100 and below vouchers untouched. The move is aimed at pushing customers onto the higher-priced plans.
Jio, on the other hand, has introduced Rs 999 prepaid plan which is costlier compared to the 3 GB high-speed data per day plans offered by Airtel and Vodafone Idea. It also introduced its Rs 2399 annual plan, while also revising the Rs 251 Work From Home pack to offer high-speed data without any daily data cap with the validity capped later on at 30 days along with the launch of Rs 151 and Rs 201 work from home packs.
