Vodafone Idea (Vi), the third-largest telecom operator, is now allowing customers to send port out SMS to 1900 even with prepaid plans which don’t come without SMS benefits. Up until now, users who were on base level prepaid plans available at a very affordable cost couldn’t send port out SMS because telcos were not giving them SMS benefits with these plans. Looking at this, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) asked the operators to allow customers to send port out SMS at least even if they are on a plan without SMS benefits.
This would keep the rights of the consumers intact. While the order from the regulator came quite a while back, it took Vodafone Idea its sweet time to implement it. There’s no saying right now whether Bharti Airtel customers can do the same. Since Vi has implemented the facility to send port out SMS for consumers on plans without SMS benefits, it shouldn’t be a surprise if Airtel does the same or has done it already.
The base plan from Vodafone Idea, which cost Rs 99, Rs 107, and Rs 111, now all come with the facility to send port out SMS even though these plans don’t have SMS benefits at all. The only thing is that users need to pay for these SMSes out of their talktime.
How will Vodafone Idea Customers Send Port Out SMS With Plans Without SMS Benefits?
Each SMS for port-out to 1900 would be subject to standard SMS charges, said Vodafone Idea. This is ideal and fair for both the consumers as well as the company.
Will Vodafone Idea Lose More Customers Now?
Well, it isn’t really very clear to a lot of people right now that they can port out of Vi even with the affordable plans without SMS benefits. It will take some time for people to get the ability to do so.
But then there’s also this thing. If customers really want to port out their number, they could go with a prepaid plan near the Rs 200 price range with SMS benefits to port out. While they don’t need to do this now, they could have done it before since it would have been like a one-time cost only.
Vi is already losing customers. The thing is, the telco needs to get funding fast so that it can cover all the gaps in its business to stay afloat in the competition in the long run.
