Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) customers have been wondering when they will get to experience 4G for years now. In the meantime, BSNL has been hiking up the data prices for 3G plans. While BSNL is now very close to launching 4G, it is still going to infuriate customers at some levels to pay more for 3G services. In early December, TelecomTalk reported about the reduction of benefits from an affordable Rs 94 BSNL plan. Now, BSNL has reduced the benefits for three more plans. In the past, the telco has done this with several other plans as well. Keeping the tariffs the same, BSNL has reduced benefits for three plans which means an indirect tariff hike. While it is a smart way to hike the tariffs from a business perspective without blowing out the scheme to the customers, it is also sad to see that BSNL users would have to pay more for consuming 3G data services.
BSNL Prepaid Plans, Which Have Become More Expensive than Before
Note that when we talk about the plans which have become expensive, we are not saying that the tariffs have been increased. The tariffs are the same, but the benefits have been reduced. The three plans for which BSNL has reduced tariffs are - Rs 269, Rs 499, and Rs 799. The Rs 269 and the Rs 769 plans were launched in October 2022. The Rs 499 prepaid plan is a very old offering for which the benefits have been reduced.
BSNL Rs 269 Plan: Old vs New Benefits
BSNL Rs 269 Plan New Benefits: The Rs 269 prepaid plan comes with unlimited voice calling, 2GB of daily data + 100 SMS/day + BSNL Tunes + Eros Now services and Hardy Mobile Games service along with Challenges Arena Mobile Gaming service + Lokdhun + Zing and more gaming benefits. This plan now comes for 28 days of validity. BSNL Rs 269 Plan Old Benefits: Earlier as well, the Rs 269 plan used to offer all the same benefits to consumers as mentioned above. But the plan had a total validity of 30 days. So the total cost of using the Rs 269 plan has gone up from Rs 8.96 to Rs 9.60 per day.
BSNL Rs 499 Plan: Old vs New Benefits
BSNL Rs 499 Plan New Benefits: The Rs 499 plan from BSNL comes with 2GB of daily data, unlimited voice calling and 100 SMS/day. There are additional benefits, including BSNL Tunes, Zing and gaming benefits. The plan now has a validity of 75 days. BSNL Rs 499 Plan Old Benefits: The Rs 499 plan from BSNL used to offer the same benefits before as well, but the validity of the plan was 90 days. Then, in December 2022, the validity was cut down to 80 days. However, in January 2023, the validity was reduced a third time to 75 days. This makes the plan more expensive. With 90 days of validity, the plan used to cost Rs 5.54 per day. But then, when the validity was reduced to 80 days, the total cost of the plan went up to Rs 6.23 per day. However, now with 75 days of total validity, the cost has again gone up to Rs 6.65 per day.
BSNL Rs 769 Plan: Old vs New Benefits
BSNL Rs 769 Plan New Benefits: BSNL Rs 769 plan comes with 2GB of daily data along with unlimited voice calling and 100 SMS/day + Eros Now Entertainment services + Hardy Mobiles Game service along with a lot more other benefits. The plan now has a total validity of 84 days. BSNL Rs 769 Plan Old Benefits: Just like what BSNL has done with its other plans, it has hiked the price of the Rs 769 plan by reducing its validity from 90 days earlier to 84 days now. The benefits were the same as they are now, but the total validity was 90 days earlier. This means that the daily cost of the plan has gone up from Rs 8.54 to Rs 9.15 now.
