JIO RENEGED FROM ITS PROMISE TO OFFER FREE CALLS

JIO RENEGED FROM ITS PROMISE TO OFFER FREE CALLS

Reliance JIO Infocomm Limited or commonly known as JIO which didn't even exist a decade ago disrupted the companies which seemed to be rock solid all these years finally decided to go back on its promise to provide free voice. The Mukesh Ambani led company said that its customers will have to pay 6 paise per minute for voice calls to other rival networks which also means that the calls made from JIO to a JIO sim would not be charged as usual. However, Jio also promised to provide free data of equal value to neutralize the burden being put on its customers. 

The company's decision came after the TRAI(Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) extended the 2020 timeline of scrapping the IUC(Interconnect Usage Charge). Since the voice calls were free before the decision, the company had to bear about 13,500 Crores(135 Billion) payment made to the rival companies such as Bharti Airtel & Vodafone Idea.

After the announcement all the customers of Jio were divided, some were in the support and some were not and both the groups had genuine reasons for the same. Some people also stated that this move shall end the regime of competitive pricing which only started after Jio entering the market, but is that true to the best of the current situation? Well, the answer varies widely, from customer to customer, their usage limits and their choices.

Putting together the facts, the reports and the views of the people who know this sector inside-out several observations and conclusions can be made. Considering the questions which are going around like the following:

1. Why is only JIO charging its customers?

 Here we can point out the current situation they are into and on the other hand, TRAI being rigid on its regulations which is forcing the company to take such preventive steps. Normal business strategy is being imposed wherein the costs incurred are transferred down to the customers.

2. Why should one pay more when the same service they enjoyed was cheaper and that too after a promise and why shouldn't we change the operator for good?

This is a very valid question with many aspects to it. When we look upon the package costs, one could easily observe that Jio even after the hike still provides the cheapest packages with more benefits than any other competitors. So if it's a thought of comparison between the costs of the same network and cost incurred before and after the decision then surely one should think deeply before switching and if someone goes with a comparison with other networks then again Jio wins at this certainly due to the great price to services offered ratio.

3. What should the customer do now?

It's the customer's call. It comes down to personal usage at the end of the day. The normal benefits like Jio Tv, Jio cinema and other apps which come complimentary with a Jio pack surely benefit a lot. And if in case the customer has been an aggressive user and these changes are proving out to be a bad deal then surely one might want to think about shifting.