Just a couple of days ago, Google had reportedly enabled support for carrier billing service on Google Play Store for two of the biggest telecom operators in India — Bharti Airtel and Vodafone. And now, the service seems to have gone live for Airtel subscribers in India.
We received a message from Airtel today which read “Introducing Airtel Billing option for Google Play Store. Now purchase apps, games and more from Play Store, select Airtel Billing option & pay in your bill. No Credit/Debit Card details required. T&C apply,” suggesting that users can now make transactions on Google Play Store and pay for the same in the mobile bill.
There’s no clarity if the service is live for both prepaid and postpaid users. However, according to the latest report from MediaNama, the carrier billing option is only applicable for postpaid users.
In case you are wondering how to make use of carrier billing option, simply open the Google Play Store, click on the hamburger button on the top left corner (three parallel horizontal lines), select Account, and then Payment methods.
Also Read: Airtel Payments Bank achieves ‘one lakh’ milestone in Uttar Pradesh
If you are a postpaid user, you should be able to see ‘Use Airtel billing’ as a payment method. Clicking it will ask you to verify your account and an SMS will be sent to the registered Airtel number for the same. On successful verification, you can purchase apps, games, and more from the Play Store directly. The cost will reflect in your postpaid bill.
Also Read: Google enabling direct carrier billing for Airtel, Vodafone customers in India: Report
Carrier billing option has been available on both Android and iOS ecosystems for a while now in many countries. However, the service was only launched in India last year, thanks to Idea’s partnership with Google. Speaking of which, Idea is the only telecom operator in the country to offer Carrier Billing in India. However, with Airtel and Vodafone’s recent efforts, that seems to change very soon.
