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Jio vs Airtel vs Vi: Voice Only Prepaid Plans Compared

Jio vs Airtel vs Vi: Voice-Only Prepaid Plans Compared

Need a second SIM just for placing calls? Or, simply don’t use mobile internet, here are the best prepaid voice plans for you

Written by Sheldon Pinto, Edited by Rohan Pal | Updated: 7 November 2026 08:00 IST

Airtel, Jio and Vi offer plenty of voice-only prepaid plans to choose from

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Highlights

Jio’s offers the most affordable voice-only prepaid plans
Airtel and Vi’s voice plans are priced similarly
All plans offer unlimited calls but no data

Following a direct mandate by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), operators like Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea (Vi) were instructed to introduce voice-only prepaid recharge plans in India. These plans forced operators to detach their voice+SMS plans from their respective data bundles. Since the emergence of data plans in the country (3G onwards) all three operators did not offer standalone voice and SMS packs until the mandate was imposed, forcing users to sign up for data bundles even if they had no requirement for the same.

Benefits of voice-only prepaid plans

With the mandate now imposed, Airtel, Jio and Vi have started offering voice-only plans for their respective customers. These plans claim to offer unlimited calling, limited SMS but no data. And since there's no data bundle coupled with the voice and SMS plan, it drastically brings down the price, making basic phone features accessible to many.

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This may have come as a relief for those who never needed a data plan but were still forced to buy one even if their feature phone never supported it. Such plans are useful for digitally inexperienced or technologically challenged users so were never to keep on using the bundled data that came with basic calling and SMS plans.

There are also users who simply need a secondary SIM card/ connection for calls. While some prefer to use a second number for personal calls, others prefer these for office calls. And there are also users who wish to connect their bank accounts to separate phone numbers (for calls and OTPs) that remain disconnected from the internet.

Jio vs Airtel vs Vi: Voice-Only Prepaid Plans Compared

No matter the reason for selecting a voice-only prepaid plan, there are plenty you can now choose from. Bharti Airtel (Airtel) was the first operator to introduce voice-only plans, while Reliance Jio (Jio) only recently introduced the same. Let's compare the voice and SMS plans across all three operators.

Kindly note that all prepaid voice-only plans shown below offer unlimited calling.

Operator	Recharge price (Rs.)	Validity	SMS allowance
Jio	147	22 days	300
	177	28 days	300
	196	30 days	300
	197	1 calendar month	300
	448	84 days	1,000
	1,748	336 days	3,600

Airtel	185	28 days	300
	203	30 days	300
	206	1 calendar month	300
	469	84 days	900
	1,849	365 days	3,600

Vi	185	28 days	300
	203	30 days	300
	206	1 calendar month	300
	470	84 days	900
	1,849	365 days	3,600

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Further reading: Jio, Airtel, Vi, Jio Voice Only Recharge Plans, Airtel Voice Only Prepaid Plan, Vi Voice Only Recharge Plans

Sheldon Pinto

Email Sheldon Pinto

Sheldon Pinto is based in Mumbai, and has several years of experience in reviewing smartphones and gadgets. As a Senior Reviewer at Gadgets 360, you will always find him deeply immersed in his reviews, switching from one phone to another. When the battery dies out, Sheldon is always browsing the web for a good sci-fi movie or reading up on cars and bikes. He also loves creating lists of interesting places to eat and travel. Sheldon is available on Twitter at @shellshocd, and you can mail him at ...More