Telecommunications giant Jio is extending incoming call validity for all its users. The move came at a time when the country is grappling with Coronavirus outbreak and a lockdown has been imposed till May 3. Jio is the last telecom operator to offer extended validity after BSNL had announced giving extended validity on incoming calls until May 5. Airtel and Vodafone had also announced the similar scheme earlier especially for low-income subscribers.
The latest update stated that all the Jio subscribers will be able to answer incoming calls during the lockdown. Jio has not limited this extension to a certain group of people but has made it available for all unlike its competitors Vodafone and Airtel which targets limited subscribers.
Also, Reliance Jio did not give any particular date about the extended validity on incoming calls therefore, it can be said that it will be valid at least till lockdown is imposed. Moreover, the company did not make it clear if the new extension plan will be valid for those whose plans expired before the lockdown was implemented.
Meanwhile, Airtel?s plan is to offer free incoming calls to over 30 million people belonging to a low-income group on the basis of average revenue per user (ARPU). Vodafone Idea has announced the extension in incoming calls services for more than over 90 million customers using a feature phone. BSNL, on the other hand, proposed this for all the subscribers who have almost zero balance or their prepaid plans have expired during the lockdown.
Recently, Reliance owned Jio brought a Jio Associate programme where the company helped incentivise users who take care of prepaid accounts of their family or friends for reasons like not being able to recharge a phone by a digital channel and problem in visiting an outlet due to lockdown. According to the company, the programme has been made accessible through the JioPOS Lite app.
