Idea offers new prepaid plan priced at Rs 93, takes on Jio, Airtel

Idea Cellular has launched a prepaid pack offering bundled calls and data at Rs 93. (Source: Reuters)

Taking on the competition from Jio and Airtel, telecom operator Idea Cellular has launched a prepaid pack offering bundled calls and data at Rs 93. This new idea prepaid plan is aimed at those customers who have higher calling requirements than data consumption and are looking for a budget plan that allows them to make unlimited calls. Under this new plan, Idea offers ‘unlimited’ local and STD calls, along with 1GB of 3G data. There are no bundled SMSes, and the bundled calls are limited to 250 minutes per day and 1,000 minutes per week. Beyond this, customers are charged at 1 paisa per second for calls.

However, the validity of this plan is just 10 days which is less than the validity (14 days) of Reliance Jio plan. While the comparable Jio plan offers 14-day validity and costs Rs. 98, the Airtel pack runs for 10 days and is priced at Rs. 93. Also, it seems like the new idea prepaid plan is available only for a few customers as it doesn’t exist for several numbers. So subscribers are advised to check the official website or app once to make sure the plan is available for them.

This Idea plan comes just a week after Airtel launched its Rs. 93 recharge pack, which offers similar benefits but gives 100 SMSes per day on top. Jio, on the other hand, gives consumers more validity, free calls on roaming, 140 SMSes, and 150MB per day data (total 2.1GB) with its Rs. 98 prepaid pack, which was announced as part of the company’s Diwali tariff revision.

Meanwhile, the Idea Cellular board today approved raising about Rs 3,250 crore from the entities under the promoter Aditya Birla Group by issuing 32.66 crore equity shares on a preferential basis. Idea Cellular Board has formed a panel to evaluate potential routes for raising further capital of up to Rs 3,500 crore.

“The Board of Directors of Idea Cellular Limited (Idea), today approved issuance of about 326.6 million equity shares, face value of Rs 10 per share, at a price of Rs 99.50 per share (in accordance with SEBI ICDR Regulations) on preferential basis,” the statement said.