The new data tariff hike has engulfed the telecom industry, and almost all telecom operators with the exception of the state-led Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) have succumbed to raising their tariffs for the subscribers. This means that the Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have all hiked their prices for the prepaid plans by as much as 40%. Also, not to forget that the subscribers will now have to pay more for all kinds of plans across all price ranges. Some of the most popular plans which used to come for 28 days, 84 days, or 365 days of validity retail for more price than previously. However, today we are going to be taking a look at the plans which have undergone the most price hike and those are the long-term ones with most validity. The plans that we are talking about are the 365 days validity plans. Now, these plans used to cost the subscribers Rs 1,699 across telecom operators. Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio all had the Rs 1,699 prepaid plan. But, with the new price hike in effect, the resultant final price of the 365 days validity plan is different. That begs the question, which plan is cheaper among all?
Reliance Jio Rs 2,199 Long-Term Prepaid Plan
It is worth noting that the former Rs 1,699 prepaid plan is one of the plans to receive the most tariff hike. This means that the subscribers who want to get a yearlong prepaid plan will now have to pay 40% or a bit more for the same benefits. This means that in the case of Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, the yearlong plan costs Rs 2,398 or almost Rs 2,400. But, surprisingly, that is not the case with Reliance Jio. The Reliance Jio prepaid plan, which comes with 365 days validity is available for Rs 2,199 only which amounts to a saving of around Rs 200 for the subscribers. Once again, with this pricing, Reliance Jio has managed to come off as the top telecom operator when it comes to getting cheap data, especially in yearlong plans. However, there is a catch with this plan, when compared with other telcos.
Reliance Jio 365 Days Plan Compared With Other Similar Offerings
To know what the catch is, it is imperative to look at the benefits of this prepaid plan. The Rs 2,199 prepaid plan from Reliance Jio offers 1.5GB daily data to the users with 100 SMS per day for 365 days. When it comes to calling, the subscribers enjoy unlimited Jio to Jio calling, but in the case of calls to other networks, the subscribers are capped at 12,000 minutes for the entire year past which they would have to pay 6 paise per minute.
On the other hand, if we go for the yearlong prepaid plans from Vodafone Idea or Bharti Airtel, then although these plans cost Rs 2,398, the subscribers get unlimited calling to other operators. The data offering in these plans remains the same as Reliance Jio, which is 1.5GB data per day. Therefore, if you are a Reliance Jio subscriber and using data is your primary aim with the prepaid plan, and you make very less calls to other operators, then the Rs 2,199 prepaid plan will give you an edge. Reliance Jio also offers another affordable 365 days validity prepaid plan which costs Rs 1,299, but this plan offers 24GB data for the entire year. The calling benefit in this plan remains the same as the one in Rs 2,199 prepaid plan.
