Jio to bill users from April 1

Girja Shankar Kaura

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 21

Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Jio today announced that it will start charging customers from April 1, but came out with tariff plans which would again be disruptive for the highly competitive Indian telecom market.

RIL Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani said Reliance Jio had crossed the 100 million (10 crore) customer mark since its launch on September 5.

“Jio was launched on September 5 last year. In only 170 days, we have crossed the 100 million-customer mark. This achievement is of India and Indians,” he said.

Customers who sign up by March 31 will be able to use unlimited data and voice services for a year at Rs 303 a month under a special offer. The enrolment to the plan would cost a one-time fee of Rs 99.

Ambani said prior to the launch of Reliance Jio, India was ranked 150th in terms of data penetration. It is now at number one.

Ambani said by the end of 2017, 99% of the country’s population will be covered by the network with its presence in nearly all cities, towns and villages.

According to the tariff plan announced by Jio, the telecom operator would match the highest selling tariff of other operators and provide 20% more data than what other operators provide.

On all Jio’s tariff plans, all domestic voice calls to any network will always remain free. No roaming charges will be applicable and there won’t be black out days either.

Experts pointed out that this would definitely lead to another price war in the industry forcing the other operators to match the Jio offers to keep their subscriber base intact.

Jio will also offer Prime Memberships starting from March 1. The customers can enrol for this membership at Rs 99 and can continue enjoying unlimited offering for another 12 months after enrolment. The last date of availing the membership is March 31.

“In the coming months, we will more than double our data capacity and this means even better quality for our customers. By the end of 2017, the Jio network will be present in nearly all cities, towns and villages of India, and cover 99% of our country’s population,” he said.

Concerns, however, remain if Jio will be able to retain its subscribers once it begins charging for the services. Analysts say many subscribers are using Jio as a second mobile connection to take advantage of the free data.