Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has come up with two new voice tariff plans of Rs 99 and Rs 319, offering unlimited voice calls without any limit for 26 days and 90 days respectively. BSNL says that these new voice STVs are aimed at customers who are not using data services. Also, this plan from the government-owned telco competes with Reliance Jio's Rs 98 tariff plan which offers both voice calls and data services. Furthermore, BSNL did not reveal any SMS benefits with these plans though, so maybe these plans are just for voice calling benefits.
Talking about the benefits offered by the Rs 99 voice STV, it gives a user unlimited voice calls to any network in home circle and national roaming, except Mumbai and Delhi. Also, it gives PRBT service for the same validity period.
And the Rs 319 tariff plan gives the same benefits, minus the PRBT service for 90 days from the date of recharge. Both the plans are already effective on the Pan-India basis. So, interested customers can head over to BSNL's portal to recharge with these plans.
"BSNL Board informed that we are committed to provide affordable and efficient services to our customers. These special tariff vouchers are only for voice calls and gives unlimited calling to those customers who are not using data services," said Shri R.K.Mittal, Director (CM) in a press statement.
But sadly, the validity of the plan is just 26 days and not even 28 days like other prepaid STVs. So in a year, you will end up recharging the same plan for 14 times to enjoy free voice calls. Whereas in the case of 28 days validity, you have to recharge the plan for 13 times.
Also, Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio has a Rs 98 tariff plan which offers unlimited voice calls and 2GB data for 28 days. BSNL should have added at least a GB of data to the Rs 99 plan, but yes, the company clearly stated that the plans are meant for only voice calling users.
