Here’s Why Minimum Recharge Plans Are Important

Telecom operators are revamping their portfolio in order to generate revenue from users. With Reliance Jio having disrupted the prepaid market segment, rivals such as Airtel and Vodafone Idea have come up with numerous changes to face the competition. In December 2019, the telcos increased the cost of their tariff plans by almost 40%.

When it comes to the tariff hike, not only the regular prepaid plans but also the minimum recharge plans have been increased. Eventually, the minimum recharge plan from Airtel priced at Rs. 24 is now available for Rs. 45, which is nearly a 100% increase. So, users will have to pay double the cost to enjoy the benefit for a month.

Given that the telcos have increased the cost of the minimum recharge plans, it is important to know why the telecom operates came up with such plans and why is it important to recharge with such plans.

Why Telcos Came With Minimum Recharge Plans?

When Reliance Jio launched its 4G VoLTE services in 2016, the company steadily increased its subscriber base and remains to be the fastest-growing telco in the country till date. This has been possible due to the availability of free and affordable plans under the Welcome Offer and Preview Offer. Even later, the telco offered affordable plans with attractive benefits for subscribers.

At this point in time, many subscribers used the Jio number primarily for data and calls and kept their primary SIM cards from other telcos without recharging. They could still get incoming calls from others on these secondary numbers. Eventually, rival telcos such as Vodafone, Airtel, and Idea (before the merger of Vodafone-Idea) faced a major dent in their revenue.

Back in 2018, these incumbent players in the telecom industry had ramped up their portfolio by introducing the minimum recharge plans that will generate revenue as subscribers had to recharge on a monthly basis to continue using their service.

Why Minimum Recharge Plans Are Important?

The unlimited prepaid plans are priced starting from Rs. 149 and bundle data, voice calling and SMS benefits. But those who do not want to spend more than Rs. 100 and still want to continue using the service will have to opt for any of these minimum recharges. So, if you want uninterrupted service from these telcos, then you should do the minimum recharge as mentioned above.