What's the minimum recharge to send SMS on Vodafone Idea/Airtel/Reliance Jio/BSNL?

[Tejas01]

@Sushubh yup. Infact if he doesn't touch his main balance he just needs to do ₹79 recharge per month.
This is what I do for my Dad. He has Airtel as secondary. He has ₹190 as main balance and I recharged ₹79 last month just to keep card active. He won't use it for calls or for anything.

 

[Sushubh]

heh. calls to nepal from india are still shit expensive. around 8 bucks per minute. i have told him to leave a smartphone at his place so that he can do internet calls for free. but he won't agree.

 

[Tejas01]

The way things are progressing with this ARPU and crap, it won't be long before ISD(assuming calls to NEpal are under ISD) will rise. Perhaps then it would make more sense to make internet calls.

 

[Sushubh]

only a few countries are expensive. and not surprisingly, the ones which have a lot of migrants working in and from india. uae is 13 rupee per minute it seems. bangladesh is just 3 rupee per minute.

 

[Deb_1]

have you guys found any trick/loophole of this problem? I need to send just one sms, for that 128 rupees is damm expensive.🙁

 

[pillaicha]

Incoming calls are barred one week after the expiry of the plan in Airtel & Vodafone but that is not the case with Jio presently.

Yes. Jio has found a loophole to justify contravening TRAI rules and regulations with their "PRIME" membership. So they're basically charging ₹99 to keep incoming going for a year. It's bloody brilliant and makes me wonder wtf the other operators are waiting for? People who only need incoming calls and SMS only should/would stick with Jio.

Even BSNL charges ₹2 every 3 days to keep validity active which amounts to around ₹20/month for validity. BSNL cuts this from your regular talk time balance. And the rest of the balance can be used as per the plan rates which are mainly two- per min or per second.

 

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[pillaicha]

What will happen If I didn't do the minimum recharge other than barring incoming calls and sms. Are they immediately cancel my connection and assign my number to new guy?

So there are two tiers of blocks.
The first block is outgoing calls and SMS, which lasts one week after the expiry of last pack. During this time, incoming calls and SMS will work without problems.

The second tier block is incoming calls and SMS gets blocked. If anyone calls your number, they get a notification saying your number is out of order or something of that sort. Your number is effectively blocked on the telecos network, even though it shows signal bars and latches onto it.

This second tier block lasts 90 days (3 months). Recharging with an active plan during this time will return all services to normal. Now I'm unsure if Airtel or Vi will automatically deduct your balance to keep your services active, but BSNL will certainly do that for you automatically as long as you have regular talktime balance. So as soon as your main pack expires, and you enter tier 1 block, within a few mins to an hour, BSNL will cut ₹2 and extend validity by 3 days. This keeps repeating endlessly till either you run out balance or recharge with some plan. If you end up with <₹2 talktime balance, your number proceeds to tier 1 and then tier 2 blocks, just like the other telecoms.

Jio is the only exception here. If you've taken prime membership, your number stays active for a year, no clauses attached.

 

[pillaicha]

What about 79 rupee plan that has talktime and validity? Would it also not work for making outgoing calls?

Yes. It works. The ₹64 credited to your account is in addition to your main talktime balance. First this ₹64 gets utilized for outgoing calls. Then your main talktime balance as per pay as you go rates. If you don't end up making ₹64 worth of outgoing calls, the credit lapses at the end of 28 days, but your main balance doesn't. It stays put but your outgoing gets blocked since your number is placed in a tier 1 block.

 

[pillaicha]

have you guys found any trick/loophole of this problem? I need to send just one sms, for that 128 rupees is damm expensive.🙁

Consider it a final tribute to your old telecom and recharge. Lol. There are cheaper plans if you plan to stay on, but to port out, ₹129 is a min.

 

[pillaicha]

Jio
₹129: 2GB FUP (Post unlimited data @ 64Kbps) + 300 SMS. 28 days validity. Listed under value plan.

This is their old plan. It's a regular plan and is valid today but Obviously their ₹127 plan acts as a retention plan for subscribers potentially planning to move out.

There is also ₹98 14 days 1.5GB/day plan SMS shown as N/A should check if main balance amount can be used for SMS

There's no outgoing SMS allowed.

 

[minuteman]

So there are two tiers of blocks.
The first block is outgoing calls and SMS, which lasts one week after the expiry of last pack. During this time, incoming calls and SMS will work without problems.

The second tier block is incoming calls and SMS gets blocked. If anyone calls your number, they get a notification saying your number is out of order or something of that sort. Your number is effectively blocked on the telecos network, even though it shows signal bars and latches onto it.

This second tier block lasts 90 days (3 months). Recharging with an active plan during this time will return all services to normal. Now I'm unsure if Airtel or Vi will automatically deduct your balance to keep your services active, but BSNL will certainly do that for you automatically as long as you have regular talktime balance. So as soon as your main pack expires, and you enter tier 1 block, within a few mins to an hour, BSNL will cut ₹2 and extend validity by 3 days. This keeps repeating endlessly till either you run out balance or recharge with some plan. If you end up with <₹2 talktime balance, your number proceeds to tier 1 and then tier 2 blocks, just like the other telecoms.

Thanks for the info, I use airtel as my tertiary sim. No one knows this number because of it incoming calls and sms are not a problem. So if I recharge with ₹79 I basically get 28+90 days from permanent cut off from network. This effectively makes me to recharge airtel with ₹79 only 4 times a year. 🙂

 

[hallow2087]

The treachery is not only in barring outgoing SMS, but creating a separate thing called secondary balance. Whatever denomination a user chooses to recharge with the entire amount (after taxes) should be credited under main/ primary balance. And the said balance should be used how the consumer wants, be it for making calls or sending texts. So many layers of treacherous undertakings that one cannot even get their head around it.

I don't understand this, how to make something fall under main balance on Vi? If I recharge with Rs. 10 would that be added under main balance? If yes, can I send SMS with that?

 

[pillaicha]

If I recharge with Rs. 10 would that be added under main balance?

Yeah

If yes, can I send SMS with that?

Nope. Need an active pack to enable SMS. Main balance is an outdated concept. Only BSNL uses it. Other operators will use your main balance for ISD calls, ISD sms, premium sms, etc provided you have an active plan with active validity.

 

[hallow2087]

@pillaicha I do have an active pack. Currently being the Rs. 95 one having 56 days validity.

 

[pillaicha]

Isn’t it explicitly mentioned in that pack’s details that there is no outgoing SMS?