The entry of Reliance Jio in the Indian telecom market caused ripples across the industry and the nation alike. Never have we heard of free voice calls for life, and data rates more affordable than a rickshaw ride. But, not all is well as the new network provider enters the market.
For starters, we at Digit, went around Delhi’s Connaught Place trying to get a sense of what people know about Jio. The general sentiment pointed to the fact that many are still unaware of Jio’s services and offers. Those that were aware of Jio’s plans to offer the cheapest data rates in the country were also skeptical of the connectivity quality of their services, mainly because of the Rcom hangover of call-drops, poor customer services and inflated bills.
AVAILABILITY CONUNDRUM
We also visited a few Reliance Digital stores and authorised Jio SIM sellers, only to find out that application forms for both the SIM card, as well as, the Jio LTE WiPod are running out at most stores. The ones we visited were unable to provide us with application forms, even though they had the the SIMs and Wi-Fi devices available with them.
THE WAIT FOR ACTIVATION
At the Reliance Jio AGM, Chairman and MD of RIL, Mukesh Ambani had announced that every Jio customer will be able to walk into a Jio store with their Aadhar cards and get their new connection within 15 minutes, with activation promised within 5 minutes of walking out the store. Sadly, these tall claims were put to rest by Jio’s own employees at the Reliance Digital stores we visited. Activation can take upto a week, or even longer, “because servers have too much load,” a Reliance Digital employee told Digit. The employee also told us that not all Reliance Digital outlets carry Jio SIM cards, Wi-Fi boxes.
Take a look at this Twitter user’s conversation with a Jio Care Facebook page. Although the page is unofficial, the user highlighted an issue about his SIM activation. In fact, the Jio page owner also admits to facing similar issues, and highlights that Jio exclusive stores are yet to open in the country. The aggrieved customer then contacted Digit and a few other publication on Twitter, in hopes of finding a resolution.
https://twitter.com/mithunindia/status/771659226213068800
LOOPHOLES IN TARIFF PLANS
Reliance Jio’s free lifetime calling plan, and ‘unlimited internet’ welcome offers also come with their own caveats, hidden away in the terms and conditions of the usage policy.
Firstly, as promised by Ambani, the introductory offer for Jio was supposed to give users free, unlimited data timm December 31. Turns out the catch is that users will only get 4GB of free LTE data daily, with the speed reducing to 128 Kbps after that.
Unlimited free internet usage after midnight is also not a reality. The unlimited free data is only available from 2AM to 5AM, for 3 hours, during the wee hours of the morning. There’s also a catch when it comes to free calls over the Jio network. While voice calls will remian free as promised, video calls will attract data charges separately. Click here to know more about how calling works on Reliance Jio.
https://twitter.com/aniirban101/status/771720322584350720
If you are a Jio user, feel free to tell us about your experiences with the network in our comments section below.