Reliance Jio will no longer give complimentary data with top-up talktime vouchers.
The company has scrapped the complimentary data from the category of the top-up plans on its website.
Until December 31, 2020, Jio was providing complimentary 1GB, 2GB, 5GB, 10GB, 50GB and 100 GB data with top-up talktime vouchers priced at Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 50, Rs 100, Rs 500, and Rs 1000 in the form of 4G data vouchers which could be redeemed within 90 days of crediting. Users just needed to have an active base plan to recharge with these add-on vouchers.
Jio has now scrapped off the complimentary data it was given in compensation to the Interconnect Usage Charges (IUCs) for Jio to non-Jio calls. Now the top-up plans will only offer talktime benefits.
This has been done after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on December 31, 2020, abolished the IUC charges and Jio announced that all voice calls from Jio to other networks in India will be free from January 1, 2021.
As per the telecom regulator’s directions, ‘Bill and Keep’ regime is being implemented in the country from January 1, 2021, thereby ending IUC charges for all domestic voice calls, the statement read.
“Honouring its commitment to revert off-net domestic voice-call charges to zero, as soon as IUC charges are abolished, Jio will once again make all off-net domestic voice calls free, starting 1st January 2021. On-net domestic voice calls have always been free on the Jio network,” Jio said in a statement.
The company further said that Jio has delivered on that promise and made off-net voice calls free again.
Jio started charging its customers for off-net voice calls after the TRAI in September 2019 extended the timeline for implementation of IUC on mobile-to-mobile calls beyond January 2020.
Back then Jio had said that it was left with no option but to start charging its customers for off-net voice calls at a rate exactly equivalent to the applicable IUC charge.
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