Jio Rs. 199 vs Airtel Rs. 399 vs Vodafone Rs. 399 vs Idea Rs. 389: Affordable Postpaid Plans Compared

Jio Rs. 199 postpaid plan launched yesterday clearly aims to cater to subscribers seeking low-cost postpaid plans. It comes with more data allocation compared to postpaid plans by Airtel, Vodafone, and Idea Cellular that cost twice as much. But is the new Rs. 199 Jio postpaid plan really as good as it seems, or are there some areas where Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular outshine it? To make things clear for the subscribers of the four telcos, we compare the most affordable postpaid plans being offered right now.

Jio postpaid Rs. 199 plan

The Jio plan priced at Rs. 199 offers 25GB of data for the billing cycle, as well as free local and STD calls and national roaming calls. ISD calling is pre-activated and does not require any deposits. To get international roaming, users don’t need to pay any deposits either and there is easy, one-touch activation. However, there is no data rollover option with this postpaid plan, which telcos like Airtel are offering to their customers. Like all other plans, the Jio 199 postpaid plan gets you free access to Jio services like Jio Music, Jio TV, Jio Movies etc.

Airtel postpaid Rs. 399 plan

The most affordable Airtel postpaid plan costs Rs. 399 and offers 20GB of high-speed data. Local and STD calls are free as well, as are calls made while roaming within India. The subscribers will also get 100 text messages per day with the plan, as well as access to Airtel TV and Wynk Music apps. As for international calls, customers need to get the ISD calling feature activated separately. Airtel offers data rollover facility wherein unused data in a bill cycle gets transferred to the subsequent billing cycles, capped at 200GB.

Vodafone postpaid Rs. 399 plan

Vodafone also has a Rs. 399 postpaid plan with 20GB data, free local and STD calls, and no charges for national roaming. Customers will, however, not get any bundled text messages with the pack. Data rollover facility is provided with this plan as well - with a limit of 200GB - along with access to Vodafone Play app for streaming videos. This is a Vodafone RED plan, but you don’t get free Netflix subscription or any of the other benefits that the more expensive Vodafone plans offer.

Idea postpaid Rs. 389 plan

Idea customers can get the Rs. 389 plan that provides 20GB of data, 100 free text messages per day, and no costs for local and STD calls, and free roaming calls too. The Idea Digital suite with gaming, music and movie streaming apps is also accessible with this pack. Data rollover facility is available but capped at 200GB with this plan as well. Free subscription of Idea movies, music and games for 12 months is also bundled with this plan.

Is the Reliance Jio effect spreading to postpaid connections in India? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.