BSNL Launches Rs. 197 Prepaid Plan To Take Over Airtel, Jio

Recently, all the leading telecom operators in India including Jio, Airtel and Vi increased their tariff plans. However, the state-run telco BSNL did not increase the cost of its recharge plans. Eventually, it secured attention from subscribers of other telcos and there was a surge in the requests to port to BSNL.

For the past two months, BSNL has been capitalizing on the opportunity further with lucrative offers. In such a move, the telco has offered an all-new prepaid plan priced at Rs. 197. This new prepaid recharge plan offers a validity of 150 days.

BSNL Rs. 197 Prepaid Plan

The newly launched BSNL Rs. 197 prepaid plan is one of the most lucrative offerings in the portfolio of the telco as well as in the entire Indian telecom industry. This recharge plan offers unlimited voice calling, free SMS benefits and 2GB of data per day. However, there is a catch with this plan.

BSNL Prepaid Recharge Plan

Subscribers who want to opt for this Rs. 197 prepaid recharge plan offers these benefits only for the first 18 days from the date of recharge. Post this period, users can access the internet at a speed of 40kbps. Even the unlimited voice calling benefit is applicable only for the first 18 days but they can enjoy incoming calls throughout the validity period of 150 days. Those who want to continue getting benefits after 18 days have to top-up the plan.

Despite these issues, the BSNL Rs. 197 prepaid plan is a value for money recharge plan. It appears to offer many benefits for its pricing. It is a long-term plan that is suitable for those who do not use a lot of cellular data.

Assistance From Government

This move from BSNL comes after the news about the assistance from the central government this financial year. The telco seems to be moving in the right direction and has gone a long way by planning to expand its infrastructure, network capabilities and reach among the Indian customers, unlike the private telcos.

Notably, BSNL will get Rs. 44,720 crore assistance from the central government this fiscal year. The government will give an additional Rs. 3,300 crore for VRS (Voluntary Retirement Scheme) and Rs. 3,550 crore for GST. It looks like the telco will use this to improve its services and emerge as a more competitive player in the telecom market.