Airtel, Vodafone Idea Customer Still Have to Perform Minimum Recharges to Keep Their Prepaid Account Active

The top three telcos- Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel successfully hiked the prepaid tariff prices to bring some stability to the telecom sector. Airtel and Vodafone Idea customers got a big relief when the telcos announced the removal of FUP limit on off-net voice calls as Reliance Jio is still charging six paise per minute for outgoing calls to other networks post the allotted FUP limit. Despite the tariff hike, Airtel and Vodafone Idea did not remove the policy of minimum recharges. For the unaware, subscribers of Airtel and Vodafone Idea will have to perform a mandatory recharge every month to keep their prepaid account active. After the revision, the mandatory recharge comes down to Rs 23 (Rs 24 in the case of Vodafone Idea) because telcos relaunched the entry-level talk time plans of Rs 20, Rs 30 and so on.

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Minimum Recharge Policy Still Applicable on Airtel, Vodafone Idea Networks

It was back in October 2018 when both the country’s top two telcos decided to introduce the minimum recharge policy. As part of this, Airtel and Vodafone Idea customers will have to perform a mandatory recharge every month otherwise incoming calls will be barred after seven days of recharge expiry. For example, you’re on an unlimited plan of Rs 249 on Vodafone Idea network, and your current plan expired today, then you will not receive any incoming calls after seven days. Outgoing calls will be stopped right away even if you have talk time balance left in the prepaid account.

After the revision, both Airtel and Vodafone Idea are offering just three minimum recharge plans of Rs 23 (Rs 24 on Vodafone Idea), Rs 49 and Rs 79 plans. The Rs 23 Smart Recharge on Airtel network or the Rs 24 All Rounder on Vodafone Idea network is the new go-to option for the prepaid users to keep their account active. This plan does not ship with any data or talk time or SMS benefits, instead, it just extends the service validity of a prepaid account. The Rs 23 recharge from Airtel is valid for 28 days, whereas Vodafone Idea’s Rs 24 plan is valid for just 14 days, so you’ll have to perform the same recharge twice per month (28 days).