BSNL will also launch new promotional plans starting today, September 6, 2021, to encourage users in the grace period to become active customers.
Telecom companies started the process of hiking tariffs earlier this year. These tariff hikes, so far, have been indirect — which means that the price of a plan remains the same but with reduced benefits. Airtel and Vodafone Idea have also scrapped their Rs 49 prepaid plan and now their base tariff plans begin from Rs 79. Now, government-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has also revised its prepaid plans. The tariffs are slated to go into effect within 10 days from 2nd September across all telecom circles.
Now, BSNL will revise fourteen of its tariffs priced at Rs 153, Rs 199, Rs 197, Rs 397, Rs 399, Rs 485, Rs 666, Rs 699 Rs 999 Rs 997, Rs 1499, Rs 1999 and Rs 2399 and first recharge coupon at Rs 249. The latest tariff revision will include charges for voice calls, video calls, SMS charges, data charges and inter circle roaming charges for voice, SMS and data services with Vodafone in Delhi.
There will not be any changes in the freebies or plan validity period for any of the above-stated plans. The change in tariff will only be applicable to the base tariff which means that the call, SMS, data charges after exhausting the bundled freebies in respective prepaid plans.
The development was first noted by Kerala Telecom. As per the new development, the outgoing SMS facility to chargeable shortcodes will be allowed with only prepaid vouchers whose MRP will be equal or more than Rs 147. Further, the existing customers of Rs 997 in per minute tariff are to be migrated to the new second pulse tariff of prepaid voucher 997.
BSNL will also launch new promotional plans starting today, September 6, 2021, to encourage users in the grace period to become active customers. The telco will be allowing incoming SMS facility only to prepaid mobile customers in North Zone and West Zone. BSNL will also stop incoming SMS facility to all validity expired prepaid mobile customers in East Zone and South Zone. The North Zone and West Zone will be allowed to have an incoming SMS facility with a grace period of two customers for 60 days on a promotional basis. The South zone and East zone will have to bar the incoming SMS facility for the GP2 customers for 60 days on a promotional basis to encourage the GP2 customers in VLR to recharge and convert to active customers.
