Vodafone India, the country’s second largest telecom operator, announced that it has made some revisions to the 'Chotta Credit’ service in the Bihar circle.
Back in 2010, the telco started offering 'Talk Loan' services across all circles under 'Chotta Credit' tag for those users who ran out of talk-time in emergency situations. Vodafone was providing emergency talk-time of Rs. 5 in Bihar & Jharkhand to those users who were requesting for Chotta Credit Talk Loan by sending 'Credit' to 144. The operator was charging additional Rs. 1 for the talk loan service and the total amount got deducted after 24 hours from users main account .
From now onwards, Vodafone will offer Rs. 10 talk-time instead of Rs. 5, and it would deduct a service charge of Rs. 2 more after 24 hours of a successful request. In the end, Rs. 12 will be deducted from users' main account.
| Revision on Chotta Credit Service in Bihar & Jharkand | |||
| Old | New | ||
| Talk Loan Amount | Charges | Talk Loan Amount | Charges |
| Rs 5 | Rs 1 | Rs 10 | Rs 2 |
| Total Charges : Rs 6 | Total Charges : Rs 12 | ||
Vodafone has revised the talk loan service as most of the Vodafone users have found this service really useful and extra talk-time helped them in an emergency situations. From the past few years, Vodafone have focused greatly on consumer satisfaction. It has enhanced customer experience through a well-managed self-care app and self-care USSD. It has also opened a lot of stores as well as mini stores in that region to help out its users.
Also Read: Vodafone is now one of India’s largest retailers with over 9800 retail stores
In the Bihar & Jharkand circle, Vodafone is trying hard to gain market share. Bharti Airtel is the market leader with 25.7 million users, while Vodafone has only 8.5 million users, and ranks fourth after Airtel, Idea, and Reliance. Airtel holds spectrum in the premium 900 MHz band, and the company getting benefitted from both the sides, be it on network quality or lower capex cost.
Vodafone is also facing stiff competition as there are some operators like Uninor & Aircel who offer cheap rates gaining new users every month. On the data front, Vodafone doesn’t have 3G spectrum, which is another reason why they are depending on ICRA agreement with Airtel. As its 3G latches onto Airtel, many users prefers Airtel over Vodafone.
However, Vodafone is trying once again to get new users as Reliance Mobile's licence is set to expire in November and it failed to win back their spectrum. Due to this reason, many Reliance users are porting out to other networks. Vodafone is offering 'Double Data' & 'Double Validity' for new and existing users in that circle, which can help it gain Reliance customers.
