Airtel vs BSNL vs Idea vs Vodafone vs Jio: best postpaid plans priced around Rs 500 compared

Within a couple of years of its commercial launch, Reliance Jio has been giving a fierce competition to the incumbent Indian telecom operators – Airtel, BSNL, Idea and Vodafone. However, the others aren’t sitting idle and have been introducing competitive prepaid and postpaid tariffs from time to
time. And if you are wondering which telco operator offers the best postpaid plan priced around Rs 500, then you’re at the right place. Here we have compared the best postpaid plans from Airtel, BSNL, Idea Cellular, Vodafone and Jio to find out how they stack against each other in terms of data and calling benefits.

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Airtel’s Rs 499 Infinity postpaid plan

With more than 295 million subscribers, Airtel is India’s leading telecom service provider. Its Rs 499 Infinity postpaid plan offers unlimited local and STD calls to all networks along with free incoming / outgoing calls while roaming nationally. The data benefits include 40GB of data per month. Interestingly, the plan also lets you carry forward the remaining data over to the next month, which is capped at a max limit of 200GB. Other benefits include free access to Wynk Music and Airtel TV, Amazon Prime subscription for one year, along with free handset damage protection.
BSNL’s Rs 499 postpaid plan

BSNL’s latest Rs 499 postpaid plan gives users unlimited voice calls to any networks without any daily or monthly FUP limits, alongside free national roaming. The pack provides 45GB of data for one billing cycle of 30 days. Users need to consume the data within the current month itself, otherwise, the unused data will lapse. The plan also offers 100 SMSes per day for a month. Compared to other telcos, BSNL doesn’t offer a subscription to any content provider.

Idea Cellular
Idea Cellular’s Rs 499 Nirvana postpaid plan

Idea is India’s third-largest telco with over 202 million subscribers. Just like Airtel and BSNL, Idea Cellular also has a monthly postpaid tariff plan that costs Rs 499. The brand’s Nirvana plan offers unlimited local and STD calls to all networks even on roaming, and 3,000 SMSes per month. The benefits of the pack include 40GB data, and it also offers data carry forward facility with a limit of up to 200GB. The content benefits include free premium access to Idea Music, Idea Movies & TV, and games for 12 months. You can also avail a free subscription of up to five premium magazines.
Vodafone’s Red Rs 499 postpaid plan

Coming to Vodafone – India’s second-largest operator with over 217 million subscribers – the telco offers an affordable Red Traveler R Rs 499 plan to its postpaid users. Apart from unlimited local and STD calls with free national roaming, the pack provides 100 free SMSes. The plan offers 40GB of cellular data for a month with a carry forward facility of up to 200GB. You get a free premium subscription to Vodafone Play app, which lets you watch movies and TV shows for a year. Furthermore, the pack offers five free magazines every month, and also comes with free handset damage protection for four months.

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Reliance Jio’s Rs 509 postpaid plan

As for Reliance Jio, the company is rapidly gaining new subscribers with its total user base crossing 160 million in December 2017. The brand’s Rs 509 postpaid plan offers higher data benefits as compared to the competition. With the pack, users get up to 60GB of 4G data per month with an FUP of 2GB per day. The plan also offers unlimited local and STD calls to other networks, and comes with free national roaming benefits as well. Just like Airtel, Vodafone and Idea, Jio also gives you unlimited access to its premium app suite that lets you watch movies, listen to music and more.
Which postpaid plan should you go for?

As you can see from the comparison, Reliance Jio’s Rs 509 postpaid plan appears to be offering the best value at the moment. With the pack, you get 2GB of data and unlimited calling benefits for around Rs 17 per day for 30 days. However, Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular offer data rollover facility, which gives them an edge over Jio’s plan.

One interesting thing to note is that while Jio might have turned the telco industry on its head with its affordable tariffs, incumbents are fighting back hard as well. So, you don’t necessarily need to port out to Jio’s network to get benefits like 4G data and unlimited calling, and worry about putting a dent in your pocket.

Note – The aforementioned postpaid plans from Airtel, Vodafone, BSNL, Jio, and Idea vary from user to user and across different telecom circles, and can change without notice as the telecom war intensifies.