New Delhi, May 7: Pre-paid mobile phone subscribers will soon be able to recharge on the fly.
Harried subscribers, who have had to frantically look for retail outlets where they can buy the cards when they are down to a solitary buck of talktime, will now be able to recharge by just pressing a few keypad buttons on their phones.
AirTel promises to offer a new scheme within the next few days that will allow you to recharge any time, anywhere and pay later. The modalities are being finalised before the scheme can be launched — first in a few cities and then in major towns across the country.
Manoj Kohli, president (mobility) at Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd, said: “We are led by customer demand. The customers want smaller denomination recharge pack, a flexi-recharge pack and easier recharge options. We have responded to these demands. Among the new schemes that we are likely to announce over the next few days, one scheme will allow people to recharge from their mobile phones. The payment mechanisms and other modalities are being worked out.”
Other operators, like Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahangar Telephone Nigam Ltd, are also developing strategies to rope in more pre-paid subscribers while attempting to retain the existing customers.
Both the public sector companies are likely to launch two pre-paid schemes with easy recharge options.
BSNL is in the process of developing a scheme that will allow its mobile customers who also have a fixed-line phone to recharge and pay later with his fixed-line phone bill.
Harit Nagpal, Hutch vice-president (marketing), said, “We already have the option of mobile-to-mobile recharge if the customer has a debit/credit card and is registered with the bank. In addition, our dealers have been given the e-topup option that allows them to recharge their customer’s account at any time.”
AirTel and Hutch already offer recharge facility through ATMs in a few cities. Kohli said the company would be joining hands with most of the banks to offer recharge options through ATMs.
The pre-paid roaming customers can now recharge from any part of the country through easy recharge.
