Airtel won’t allow incoming calls anymore after 7 days of validity expiry, forces subscribers to recharge.
The telecom sector in India is witnessing a lot of changes recently with regards to market share. Last month, Jio overtook Airtel to gain more subscribers, sitting behind Vodafone Idea and this month, it has even surpassed Vodafone Idea in terms of the total customer base. To keep fighting, Airtel and Vodafone have been coming up with predatory pricing and new ways to keep incur profits. The Minimum Recharge scheme was implemented by these two a few months ago and now Airtel is making changes in it.
Airtel has now changed the Minimum Recharge scheme in a way that a customer may not be happy with the operator anymore. As noted by Telecom Talk, the change has been made with regards to grace period post the validity expiry date. So far, an Airtel customer could receive incoming calls for a period of 15 days from the date the validity expires.
After the change, the grace period has now been reduced to seven days from the date of expiry. This means that once the plan expires, the Airtel subscriber can only receive calls for one more week before even that is not possible anymore. For outgoing calls, subscribers won’t be able to make voice calls if the validity expires, even if the account balance stays.
The move seems to have been made in order to raise the Average Revenue Per User (ARPU). Some subscribers have even said on various blogs that Vodafone Idea is also implementing the same for its prepaid subscribers. However, there’s no official confirmation of the same.
While the change in the Minimum Recharge scheme can help Airtel raise its ARPU, it’s no more alien that changes like these that are making the operator lose more subscribers. Unlike Airtel, Reliance Jio doesn’t have any minimum recharge scheme for its prepaid subscribers. With Jio’s prepaid plans, subscribers pay for the plan and they get all the essentials clubbed into one – data, calls and validity.
For a consumer, a cost-effective plan from Jio is easier on the pocket as it offers more benefits at minimal prices. Airtel’s Minimum Recharge scheme will eradicate all inactive numbers and it also will push many more subscribers to Jio, eventually making Airtel keep losing subscribers further.
Also Read – Airtel Offers A Massive Discounts On Dth Connections:Offers Additional Benefits Of 1000Rs
