lifetime validity plan : Too good to be true??

If anything looks  too good to be true, then most probably there is a catch. Well the saying applies to lifetime validity plans from many service providers in India as well.

• Lifetime is not lifetime: Even though they advertise as lifetime, in reality it is not a lifetime offer. Most of these plans are valid till the validity of the license of the service providers. That means the lifetime validity plan from airtel is valid till 2014 and the lifetime offer from vodafone is valid till 2015. 6 years or 7 years is not lifetime for sure. Reliance lifetime connection is valid till 2021 though.
• need to recharge periodically The biggest attraction of lifetime validity plan is that you do not have to recharge the phone every month. That does not mean you can just get a lifetime card and forget it. Vodafone requires you to recharge your phone with 200 Rs every 6 month to stay active. Even reliance communication has a simliar requirement. I could not find a similar requirement in Airtel though.
• You have to pay a much higher rate on outgoing calls: Too bad if you want to make outgoing calls. At 1.99Rs/min for local calls and 2.75Rs/min for std calls, the vodafone plan looks like a robbery to me. Airtel and reliance are much better with 1Rs/min for local calls and 1.5rs/ min for std calls. 
• Airtel and vodafone charge 1 rs/ sms!!!! Reliance is silent about sms charges. Just head over to the internet cafe and send sms messages for free.

Verdict: Make sure to read the fineprint before going for any plan from the indian service providers. Alternatively you can subscribe to my feed. Airtel lifetime validity plan looks like the best of the lot and stay away from vodafone.

Tagged as:  lifetime validity