As the rainfall and flood situation in Kerala worsens, telecom operators in the circle are starting to announce their relief measures for the general public. Now BSNL has also introduced its contribution to help the cause. All the telcos in the region have shown a compassionate gesture towards the situation in Kerala and have decided to help the people in their own way. Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular, Vodafone and Reliance Jio – all the private telcos have introduced different measures to ensure that their customers remain connected with their loved ones during the flood.
As PTI reported, the state-owned telecom operator, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has introduced unlimited calling for the users within its network, whereas for calls to other networks the telco has set a cap of 20 minutes per day for seven days. This extra calling benefit will be valid in flood-affected areas only.
Regarding this step by the state-owned telco, BSNL Chairman and Managing Director Anupam Shrivastava spoke, "BSNL stands with its customers in Kerala. For next seven days, BSNL will offer unlimited on-net calls and data to customers in the flood-hit area of Kerala. They can also make 20 minutes of calls on any network every day in the next seven days.”
Bharti Airtel has even gone a step further to provide VSATs at relief centres for facilitating public Wi-Fi and calling services. Idea Cellular, Vodafone and Bharti Airtel have extended bill payments timeline for the postpaid subscribers, introduced 1GB free data for prepaid subscribers and also credited free talk time. Whereas Reliance Jio has provided the people with free unlimited data and voice for seven days. Airtel and Vodafone are offering a talk time of Rs 30 while Idea Cellular is crediting its customers’ accounts with Rs 10 talk time.
At the moment, it's still downpouring in Kerala, but the rains are expected to stop in the next few hours. Millions of people in Kerala are stranded, and the government is giving all its best to help the stranded people.