Vi (formerly Vodafone Idea) has quietly removed outgoing SMS benefits from two of its unlimited prepaid recharge plans. The Rs 99 and Rs 109 prepaid plans now have a prominent banner on top with the text “No outgoing SMS”. The same banner is also displayed on the telco’s combo/validity recharge packs, however these didn’t offer SMS benefits to begin with.
Also read: Vi Rs 447 prepaid recharge plan with 50GB data, 60 days validity launched
Vi isn’t the first telco to remove SMS from its plans. Jio recently launched two JioPhone prepaid plans without any SMS benefits. The Rs 39 and Rs 69 JioPhone plans offer only unlimited calls, data and Jio apps access. While there’s no clarification as to why Vi is removing SMS benefits, it could be to force prepaid users to purchase one of its SMS packs. The plan details make no mention of incoming SMS, so it’s safe to assume users will still be able to get OTPs and other SMS updates if they recharge with any of these packs.
Vi Rs 99 and Rs 109 unlimited recharge plans no longer offer outgoing SMS
Vi removes outgoing SMS from two unlimited prepaid plans
The Vi Rs 99 plan earlier offered 100 SMS to users for the duration of the validity, while the Rs 109 plan offered 300 SMS for the validity period. While the SMS benefit has been removed from both packs, we’re not seeing any extra benefits or reduced pricing as compensation.
The Rs 99 plan comes with a validity of 18 days. Users get unlimited calls and 1GB of data for the price. As for the Rs 109 plan, it was re-introduced in April 2021 after a brief appearance in September 2020 during the Vodafone and Idea merger. The Rs 109 plan comes with 20 days validity, and offers 1GB of data and unlimited calls. It’s essentially a slightly enhanced version of the Rs 99 pack with two extra days of validity.