Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio caught flak over its recent decision to charge prepaid and postpaid users for all the voice calls made to other networks. To minimise the possibility of the flight of its users to rival networks, Jio has announced bundled plans for data and voice minutes for other networks that cost less than the existing combinations. Available at Rs 222, Rs 333, Rs 444, and Rs 555, the new ‘Jio All-In-One’ plans offer prepaid customers 2GB per day, Jio-to-Jio unlimited calls, and 1,000 voice minutes for calls on other networks.
Citing the charge of 6 paise per minute levied by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) as Interconnect Usage Charge (IUC), Reliance Jio transferred the IUC cost to its customers. This means that Jio customers need to pay a charge of 6 paise per minute for calls made to Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, BSNL, Tata DoCoMo, MTNL, and Telenor among others, irrespective of the unlimited combo plans.
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The sudden change made to the tariff plans was seen as the company’s detour from its commitment of providing telecom services at lower prices than the rivals’. Due to the changes made to the plans, it became confusing for customers to choose a plan that meets their requirements, which is why Jio has added the cost of IUC plans and combo plans to create new plans that prepaid users can buy.
Here’s what each Jio One plan offers:
Jio All-In-One Rs 222 plan
For Rs 222, Jio prepaid customer gets 2GB data per day for 28 days, totalling to 56GB. On top of this, the customer gets 1,000 IUC minutes and unlimited calling to Jio numbers.
This plan is essentially the Rs 198 plan that has been revised to include IUC minutes. When bought individually, the total cost the customer may have to pay will be Rs 278, including around Rs 80 for 1,000 minutes. However, on every Rs 10 spent, Jio claims it will credit 1GB to the customer’s account, which will be 8GB in this case.
Jio All-In-One Rs 333 plan
When the customer buys the Rs 333 plan, the account is recharged with 2GB data per day, unlimited Jio calls, and 1,000 minutes of IUC calls for a validity of 48 days. In an otherwise scenario, buying the bundle would cost Rs 80 more for 1,000 IUC minutes, along with 8GB additional data on spending every Rs 10.
Jio All-In-One Rs 444 plan
The Rs 444 plan is a revised prepaid plan of Rs 448 and offers 2GB data per day, unlimited Jio calls, and 1,000 IUC minutes for 84 days. When bought separately, the total cost would be Rs 528, including Rs 80 for IUC minutes that will also credit 8GB data on every Rs 10 spent.
Jio All-In-One Rs 555 plan
The Rs 555 plan brings similar benefits as the Rs 444 plan, except for a higher value of IUC minutes. The customer gets 3,000 IUC minutes, in addition to 2GB data per day and unlimited Jio calls for 84 days.
In addition to the three new plans, the customer is also eligible for “1-month extra service” on an additional payment of Rs 111 over the base plan, said Reliance Jio in a press statement.
