In a move that will benefit nearly 20 crore mobile users in the country, including those in low-income groups, Bharti Airtel, along with the two state owned telcos — BSNL and MTNL, on Monday extended the validity of their prepaid packs and committed to credit additional talk time of ₹10 to such accounts amid the 21-day lockdown.
While BSNL and MTNL have extended the validity of prepaid packs till April 20, Bharti Airtel has done so till April 17. This means that incoming facility will not be stopped on the number even after validity of their plan is exhausted.
For Airtel, the move will benefit 80 million or 8 crore customers “effectively covering all under-privileged households on the Airtel Network. These special measures will particularly benefit migrant workers and daily wage earners who may have been impacted due to the nationwide lockdown to combat COVID-19. All other customers on Airtel’s network are already recharging their accounts using online platforms.”
BSNL, in a statement said, “In view of hardships faced by the mobile subscribers whose validity has expired during the lockdown period…and are not able to recharge for extension of validity, BSNL… is extending the validity of all such subscribers up to 20th April 2020, free of cost, so that the subscribers continue to receive incoming calls.” In addition, BSNL will credit free talk time of Rs.10/- to all such subscribers who reach zero balance during the lock down period.
Airtel said the program has been kicked off, and these benefits will be available to users in the next 48 hours. “With these initiatives all Airtel customers will have unrestricted access to vital information from local authorities as also be able to connect with whoever they choose to,” it added.
