After BSNL, Bharti Airtel has now announced measures to shield over 80 million low-income customers from the Coronavirus crisis. Similar to the government-owned PSU, Airtel is also providing free incoming calling facility and Rs 10 talk time at no extra cost. As per a media statement sent by Bharti Airtel, the telco will be providing 'Unrestricted Incoming Services' till April 17. Additionally, low-income prepaid users will also get free Rs 10 talk time. For the unaware, Airtel has a minimum recharge policy in place as part of which the subscribers will not be able to receive incoming voice calls after seven days of current pack's expiry. This is the reason behind the telco offering Rs 49 and Rs 79 minimum recharge plans to the subscribers.
80 Million Airtel Prepaid Subscribers to Get Free Talktime of Rs 10
According to Bharti Airtel, it has extended the prepaid pack validity for over 80 million customers till April 17, 2020. All these customers will continue to get incoming calls on their Airtel mobile numbers even after the validity of their plan is exhausted. This is a piece of really good news to the subscribers of Airtel.
Besides, Airtel will also credit an additional Rs 10 talk time in the prepaid accounts of the 80 million subscribers to enable them to make calls or send SMSes. The telco also confirmed that the benefits would be available to users in the next 48 hours.
In the press statement, Airtel mentioned that these 80 million customers expertly cover all underprivileged households. These two measures might particularly benefit migrant workers and daily wage earners who may have impacted due to country-wide lockdown. It is also said that Airtel customers are performing recharges using digital platforms.
Shashwat Sharma, Chief Marketing Officer, Bharti Airtel said “In this difficult hour of fighting off the threat of Covid-19, Airtel is committed to ensuring that all people remain connected without any disruptions. And for this objective, it is critical to take care of the under-privileged daily wage earners of our country, whose lives have been disrupted due to the lock-down”.
Airtel Network Works Continue to Work
Alongside announcing these two moves, Bharti Airtel also confirmed that its network teams continue to work round the clock to ensure the backbone operate seamlessly. Ever since the lockdown became effective, telecom operators are facing a lot of load on their networks, which might result in slower data speeds and call drops. But Airtel says it is working tirelessly for providing seamless services to the subscribers.
