The deadline of December 1 provided by telcos for raising prepaid tariff prices is approaching, but still, there's no news of how much hike consumers will get to see. Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and BSNL will raise tariffs a couple of days later from now, but the websites and mobile apps of the telcos are still offering the current prepaid plans. Telecom subscribers right now are in a mindset of choosing a long-term prepaid plan before the new plans come into the picture. Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea is currently allowing users to queue prepaid plans, but that's not the case with BSNL though. BSNL has a long-term plan of Rs 1,699 which is currently offering benefits for 425 days. If you're a prepaid subscriber in India right now and wondering whether to choose a long-term plan or not? Well, read ahead to know our take on this aspect.
Long-Term Prepaid Recharge is a Good Option Right Now
All the four top telcos right now have the yearly prepaid plan of Rs 1,699. Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and BSNL are shipping the Rs 1,699 plan with a minimum of 365 days validity. But the majority of the prepaid users right now must be on a prepaid recharge already and it will be a concern for them to choose a yearly plan or not.
But with the tariffs set to get a major hike on December 1, it's always good to be on the safer side. The Rs 1,699 prepaid plan from Jio and Vodafone Idea offers 1.5GB data per day and the same plan from Airtel offers 1.4GB data per day. Lastly, BSNL has the best Rs 1,699 plan right now as it's offering more than 2GB data per day and that too with a validity of 425 days.
Recharging the yearlong prepaid plan will allow customers to avoid the tariff hike for the next one year. If customers want other long-term recharges, then they can choose the Rs 998 plan from Airtel (offers benefits for 336 days), Rs 999 plan from Vodafone Idea (offers benefits for 365 days) and the newly launched Rs 998 prepaid plan from BSNL.
On the whole, the best way to avoid tariff hike right now is to choose the long-term recharges.
Queuing Facility Comes in Handy for Prepaid Users
Reliance Jio prepaid users can go ahead and recharge the yearly plan of Rs 1,699 as the company allows users to queue prepaid recharges. In the case of Bharti Airtel, it's allowing prepaid users to extend the validity by 180 days only. When it comes to Vodafone Idea, it's allowing the users to queue only the current prepaid plan.
Bharti Airtel prepaid users can queue prepaid plans offering a maximum 180 days validity. For example, if your prepaid recharge is expiring in the next 12 days, then you can perform the Rs 597 recharge which will be queued as it offers 168 days validity taking the overall validity to 180 days (168 days of upcoming recharge and 12 days of current recharge). To make full use of this limitation, Airtel users can recharge the Rs 558 prepaid plan that offers benefits for 82 days and they can recharge the same plan twice to queue it.
On the flip side, Vodafone Idea is allowing users to queue the current recharge only. For instance, if you're a Vodafone Idea customer and on the Rs 399 plan that offers 1GB data per day for 84 days, then you can queue this prepaid plan only. Also, there's no limitation from the side of Vodafone Idea like Bharti Airtel, so they can queue unlimited recharges, but do make a note that the recharge denomination should be the same one.
