Airtel Takes a Dig at Reliance Jio, Says Unlimited Means Unlimited Calling

Ever since Reliance Jio has announced its decision to charge for outgoing calls made to other operators, social media seems to have become a telecom battleground of sorts. From trends like Boycott Jio to I stand with Jio, Twitter is divided into two fractions: one that supports Jio’s decisions and one that clearly does not.

Nevertheless, rival operators are trying to make the most out this situation, and are even sending out tweets asking consumers to switch to their network. “For some, unlimited means something else. For us, unlimited voice calls have always meant truly unlimited voice calls. Switch to Airtel now,” says a tweet from Airtel along with the hastag AbToSahiChuno (choose right now at least). Along with the tweet there is an image that says “Wait a minute, that just cost you 6 paise. Gee-Oh!”.

Airtel also adds that Unlimited calling should mean unlimited calling, with no fine print or hidden costs. Vodafone India too has reiterated its commitment to continue free calls to all service operators. “Relax, there will be no charges on Vodafone calls to other networks. So keep enjoying what we promised you - truly free calls on Vodafone unlimited plans,” says Vodafone.

Reliance Jio recently announced that it would charge 6 paise/minute to its customers for outgoing calls to other network operators to recover the Interconnect Usage Charge (IUC) much to users’ dismay. Upset with Reliance Jio’s decision several users reminded the service operator of its promise to provide free voice calls and even threatened to boycott Jio.

Reliance Jio as of now says that consumers who have recharged their SIM on or before 9 October 2019 can continue enjoying free call benefits to even non-Jio customers until their plan expires. However, other users will be required to take an IUC top-up voucher henceforth.