The 1GB Per Day Offers – Jio vs. Airtel vs. Idea vs. Vodafone – The Fineprint!

Not long ago, most of us used to pay about Rs. 250 on average for 1GB of data, irrespective of the network that we were on. There were some exceptions, but not so much that we jump to that offer with ease or without a second thought. Now, thanks to the entry of Reliance Jio network in the market, every network has bent down. Literally, so much that what we used to get per month is now going to be available per day, and you just need to pay a bit more to add the free calling as a benefit.

Reliance Jio introduced something like called the Jio Prime membership and under that, a user can get 1GB of data every day for a monthly charge of Rs. 303. It did come as a tough one for the other networks, so much that they desperately started introducing several recharge offers for their existing customers so that they don’t give a thought about porting their number to the Jio network.

The new one’s network strength and reach are yet to be called reliable already, but when the offers are so tempting, many would be happy to have an additional SIM for the data benefits. Now, the competitors have given offers so good enough that it rules out the porting option from the minds.

But, it isn’t something new from these operators. The T&C (Terms and Conditions) that are applied with these offers, which are not mentioned when you are shown the offer. In this guide below, let’s compare the specific offers that are giving 1GB data per day and the other benefits.

Jio Prime Rs. 303 Monthly Recharge Offer

• You need to pay Rs. 99 initial fee to enroll yourself in Jio Prime
• Rs. 303 will be the monthly charges, which you will have to recharge with or pay the monthly bill
• Before March 31st, you can enroll (by paying Rs. 99) and recharge (with Rs. 303) to get the plan benefits
• 1GB per day data will be given, across the day with no timely restrictions
• Once the daily data limit is crossed, you will be charged from the main balance or there are certain data packs available from which the excess data is charged (Rs. 51 for 1GB, Rs. 201 for 5GB)
• Calls will be free, forever as they are data-based calls. There is no limit for this.
• 100 SMS free every day (TRAI regulations limit it to 100 per number)
• Subscription to Jio apps (JioCinema, JioTV, JioMusic, JioCloud, etc.)
• National roaming: Free outgoing and incoming calls, free outgoing and incoming SMS, regular data usage with no special costs

Airtel 345 / 349 Monthly Recharge Offer

Note: The Rs. 345 – 349 cost is based on the region.

• You don’t need to pay anything to enroll, just recharge and the benefits begin
• But first, you need to check if your number is eligible to get this recharge offer
• Rs. 345 to Rs. 349 is the monthly recharge to be done
• Validity of the plan: 28 days
• Recharge before March 31st so that you can continue recharging every month later to get the same benefits
• 1GB per day data will be offered, and there are no time restrictions
• We called Airtel thrice to confirm it and they said there is nothing like Day and Night data, but some users did get the message that out of 1GB, 500MB will be night data (2 a.m. to 5 a.m.) and 500MB will be during the day (5 a.m. to 2 a.m.)
• Once the limit is crossed, you will be charged from the main account. It is at 8 paise per 10kb, or Rs. 8 per MB or Rs. 8000 per GB.
• Local and STD Calls will be free (but according to T&C, it is capped at 300 minutes per day and 1200 minutes per week)
• Once the call limit is reached, you will be charged 30 paise per minute for local and STD calls
• No free SMS in the plan
• National roaming: From April 1st, incoming calls will be free during roaming. Outgoing calls and SMS will have regular charges

According to Airtel, if you don’t want the main balance to be used once the data is exhausted, you need to send STOP to 1925 so that the number can use data only if there is data balance and disconnected once the limit is reached.

Idea 346 Monthly Recharge Offer

• You don’t need to pay anything to enroll, just recharge and the benefits begin
• But first, you need to check if your number is eligible to get this recharge offer
• Rs. 346 is the monthly recharge to be done
• Validity of the plan: 28 days
• Recharge before March 31st so that you can continue recharging every month later to get the same benefits
• 1GB per day data will be offered, but there are time restrictions
• Out of 1GB, 500MB will be night data (12 a.m. to 6 a.m.) and 500MB will be during the day (6 a.m. to 12 a.m.)
• If you cross the data limit for the day, you will be charged 4 paise per 10 kb (i.e. Rs. 4 per MB or Rs. 4000 per GB) and if there is no balance in your phone, Internet will be disconnected for the day
• Local and STD Calls will be free, with the same cap as on Airtel and Vodafone – 300 minutes per day and 1200 minutes per week.
• Once the call limit is crossed, all the local and STD calls will be at 30 paise per minute
• No free SMS in the plan
• National roaming: From April 1st, incoming calls will be free during roaming. Outgoing calls and SMS will have regular charges

Vodafone 345 / 352 Monthly Recharge Offer

• You don’t need to pay anything to enroll, just recharge and the benefits begin
• Recharge before March 15th night to get this offer, or before March 31st to get 1GB per day for 28 days
• But first, you need to check if your number is eligible to get this recharge offer
  Rs. 352 is the monthly recharge to be done
• Validity of the plan: 56 days (28 x 2, i.e. 2 months on one recharge)
• 1GB per day data with no time restrictions, i.e. you can use data anytime across the day
• Once the daily limit is crossed, you will be charged from the regular balance at 4 paise per 10 kb (i.e. Rs. 4 per MB or Rs. 4000 per GB) and if there is no balance in your phone, Internet will be disconnected for the day
• Local and STD calls will be free with a cap of 300 minutes per day and 1200 minutes per week
• Once the limit of calls is crossed, it will be 30 paise per minute for the calls
• No free SMS in the plan
• National roaming: Charges will be applicable for calls and SMS on national roaming

Conclusion – Always ask for the Terms and Conditions

I’ll be frank. I am not completely convinced with the speeds offered by Jio network and I haven’t really traveled much to judge if it works almost everywhere like Airtel did for me in most, but what is being offered by Reliance Jio is much better than the other two – Airtel, Idea, and Vodafone.

Wow, there is a lot hidden behind those SMS messages sent by the networks about the new offers. You now know how much is hidden in those T&Cs, and if you don’t stop the data charges from your main account, 1GB of excess data usage can cost you Rs. 4000 (Idea and Vodafone) to Rs. 8000 (Airtel).

For calls, Jio calls are free and unlimited, and that is easy to understand. The unlimited offers from the other two have a limit in actual, all of them at 300 minutes per day or 1200 per week.

For data, you now know how many hidden rules are there about the time restrictions, post-FUP limit, etc.

SMS and national roaming is another story!

Note: All these offers and their terms were confirmed by us by calling the respective customer care providers and also the representatives of the operators.