Telecom operator Vodafone India today announced its partnership with e-commerce portal Flipkart to offer smartphones at lower prices. Under the partnership, Vodafone has rolled out cashback offers on a select range of entry-level 4G smartphones available under Flipkart's #MyFirst4GSmartphone initiative. These entry-level smartphones will be available at as low as Rs 999.
All the existing and new Vodafone prepaid customers who purchase the eligible smartphones available on Flipkart's initiative are eligible for the offer. Smartphones such as iVoomi Me4, Yu Yunique 2, iVoomi i1, Yu Yunique 2 Plus, and iVoomi i1S are eligible for the offer. There are other smartphones too from brands such as Intex, Xolo eligible for the offer.
To avail the offer, customers have to do a recharge of at least Rs 150 per month for 36 months. The recharges can be of any denomination totalling to a minimum of Rs 150 per month. At the end of 18 months, customers will receive a cashback of Rs 900 and after another 18 months, a cashback of Rs 1,100 respectively, which takes the total cashback amount to Rs 2,000.
The cash back will be credited to the customer's Vodafone M-Pesa wallets, and the best part is customers can withdraw the cashback or transact digitally. This is the same offer introduced by Vodafone, Airtel, and other telcos a few months ago. Airtel is also offering cashback on select 4G smartphones from brands such as Karbonn, Celkon, etc.
Speaking about the offer, Avneesh Khosla, Associate Director – Consumer Business, Vodafone India said, “We are delighted to partner with Flipkart and extend this offer to our existing and new pre-paid customers. This is an initiative to make 4G smartphones available at a never before price points and thus, democratise access to Vodafone SuperNet 4G. We hope that this will help fulfil the aspirations of several million phone users across the country who desire a smartphone but couldn’t afford one. It will also encourage current non-users of 4G to upgrade and enjoy a richer user experience with Vodafone SuperNet 4G.”
However, in this offer, Vodafone is just offering cashback and Flipkart will be taking care of the 4G smartphone part. Nevertheless, there are some decent smartphones under this offer such as the Yu Yunique 2 and the recently launched iVoomi i1 and i1S. At the moment, Flipkart listed 28 smartphones eligible for the Vodafone 4G Cashback offer, and the list will grow going forward.
