Jio launched the Rs. 199 and Rs. 299 plans late last week with 1.2GB and 2GB data per day, respectively, and the other standard freebies such as free calls and SMSes. Vodafone has emerged as the first operator to counter this move by Jio with the launch of the Rs. 198 plan that offers similar data and calling benefits. Existing Vodafone customers will get 1GB data per day, bundled calls and 100 SMSes per day for Rs. 198. On the other hand, new customers will have to shell out Rs. 229 for the same benefits. The validity of the Vodafone plans is 28 days, same as that of the new Jio plans.
"As a part of this offer, customers will also enjoy unlimited local and STD calls even while roaming in India. The pack also offers 100 free SMS per day," the statement said. "With 1GB data per day and unlimited calling, the plans will take care of all their (users) communication needs," said Avneesh Khosla, Associate Director-Consumer Business, Vodafone India.
As has become the norm for most telcos, Vodafone is putting a cap on these 'unlimited' calls. Consumers will be able to make free calls worth only 250 minutes per day, and 1,000 minutes per week. Beyond this, they will be charged calls at 30 paise per minute for the remaining day and week, respectively. Also, they can call only a maximum of 300 unique numbers in a 7-day period; if this limit is breached, the call tariff will become 30 paise per minute for the rest of the validity period.
The company statement said that the new recharge pack is available across all Vodafone 4G circles. However, the official website does not mention the new Rs. 198 plan in some circles, such as Delhi-NCR, Chennai etc. Therefore, users need to check the plan mentions 1GB per day data allocation, as plans at a similar price point (such as the Rs. 199 pack) offer just 1GB data for the entire 28-day validity period.
Written with inputs from PTI
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