Three private operators — Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea — on Friday announced extension of validity of packs for certain users. While Jio said that its users will receive incoming calls, Airtel and Vodafone extended the benefit to about 120 million low income customers till the end of the lockdown on May 3.
"This will not only benefit low-income users but also benefit everyone who is unable to do a recharge during these challenging times," Reliance Jio said in a statement.
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Bharti Airtel, which had earlier announced an extension of validity along with additional ₹10 talktime for about 80 million customers representing all under-privileged customers on its Network, on Friday said many of these users have been able to recharge through several channels activated by Airtel.
“However, close to 30 million such customers have still not been able to recharge their pre-paid mobile accounts. Keeping in mind their connectivity needs, Airtel is extending the validity of these accounts till May 3, 2020. All these customers will now be able to receive incoming calls on their Airtel mobile numbers even after the validity of their plan is exhausted,” it said.
'Connectivity at troubled times'
Likewise, Vodafone Idea in a statement said that to ensure that “low income, prepaid customers using feature phones” remain connected amidst these troubled times, it is extending incoming services for these users till May 3, 2020.
“This free of cost extension of incoming service validity will enable millions of feature phone users of both Vodafone and Idea to continue to receive incoming calls, even if the validity of their plan expires earlier,” it explained.
Avneesh Khosla, Marketing Director, Vodafone Idea said, In order to ensure that consumers stay connected during this extended lock down, we are extending the incoming service validity of 90 mn consumers till May 3rd. This would effectively mean that these consumers can use their phones for receiving incoming calls unhindered.”
