Just when Reliance Jio was planning to attract each subscriber of its telecom service to jump the gun and join its Prime membership, TRAI stomped the party and put an end to it. The newest entrant to the telecom industry introduced a new three-month free services ‘Summer Surprise‘ offer to lure users but it was suspended soon after. Jio has accepted this decisi0n and is currently in the process of making iterations to its tariffs and other plans.
As noticed this afternoon, Mukesh Ambani-backed telecom giant, who had been instructed to roll back the summer surprise offer as soon as operationally feasible, has already made the amends. This offer, which enabled Prime subscribers to receive three months of free data benefits for the price of one month (₹303 or higher), has been withdrawn and is no longer available on Jio’s website or even the MyJio app. But, you can still pick up the Jio Prime subscription until April 15, it reamins unaffected by TRAI’s decision to throttle back the 3-month free services offer.
This development may come as a disappointment for most Reliance Jio Prime subscribers but the company is presently hard at work to sort out the situation. Those who had been wise enough to pick up the ₹99 Jio subscription and a minimum recharge may continue to be eligible for the Summer Surprise offer — as mentioned in the company’s previous statement. But, the website and app have now been updated with new a banner stating “more exciting” offers are on the way out. And the packages you’d been subscribed to via the Summer Surprise offer are currently also missing from the MyJio app — which is a little confusing.
Currently, the information on what the telecom giant has in store for the users is pretty bleak but it seems to be planning to soften the blow of the cancellation of the offer. Thus, Jio is now working on attractive new offers and tariff packs for its existing customers. The said offers will still be highly competitive and offer more data/voice services to the Prime subscribers. It is also expected to introduce certain packages to lure in customers who weren’t able to subscribe to the offer during this hubbub.
But, the Summer Surprise has most likely been pulled from all locations or services providing access to Reliance Jio recharges. There is still a good chance that you may be able to subscribe to Jio Prime, as well as gain access to Summer Surprise via JioMoney or third-party recharge websites like Paytm, FreeCharge or MobiKwik. You, however, won’t be able to choose either Prime or recharge as the company is making only bundled offers available at this instant.
This means you may not be able to purchase the ₹99 Jio subscription plan and ₹303 recharge separately. Instead, you will be served with bundled offers such as ₹402 ( ₹99 Jio Prime subscription + ₹303 1GB/day recharge), and ₹598 ( ₹99 Jio Prime membership + ₹499 2GB/day recharge). This is the first instance of the company charging its users for its telecom services, else it had been serving them for free for the past six odd months. And this would’ve continued for another three months if TRAI hadn’t stepped in, thanks to the jealous competitors.
But, we’re expecting the new offers or tariffs to be as attractive and affordable as the free data+voice bundles it had been providing till date. So, this question is directed to any of the 72 million Prime members (out of the total 100 million) – are you satisfied with TRAI’s decision or should telcos be allowed to define their competitive pricings? Comment your thoughts down below.
