Idea’s answer to Reliance Jio: Offers ‘private recharge’ option for subscribers; here’s how it will solve the harassment problem

Idea’s answer to Reliance Jio: Offers ‘private recharge’ option for subscribers; here’s how it will solve the harassment problem

While telecom companies are renewing the battle lines in the war against call harassment by ensuring safety for female customers for retail recharge transactions, Idea is ready with an all India roll out of its ‘private recharge’ service. Private recharge allows telco customers to recharge their prepaid connection at retailer without sharing their number. In an age of continually evolving technology privacy is highly important, and especially with so many new offers after Reliance Jio came to the bangwagon, it is crucial that security is also an area which must be looked after. Privacy and security are ensured as the phone number is replaced with an alias. In order to generate the alias the customer needs to send a SMS to short-code. Once the alias is generated, the customer can pass it to the retailer for recharge transaction.

Idea, in a statement, said “Private recharge is aimed at letting customers retain their privacy by not sharing their numbers. The service was first launched in Kerala in August 2016 and is now available across 14 circles in the country. Pan-India roll-out will be completed within this month.” There will be no extra cost to use this service. All the subscriber needs to do is send an SMS with the word ‘Code’ to toll free number 55515 following which they will get an OTP (one-time password). The user will then need to share the number with the retailer instead of the mobile number. Idea had earlier started this service in Kerala, last year and what followed by Vodafone in West Bengal, last month.

The statement by Idea said, “This is especially helpful for Idea’s women customers who can choose not to disclose their numbers thereby ensuring their privacy. On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Idea Cellular is reiterating its commitment to women’s safety with the ‘Private Recharge’ feature on its V-Top up system.” According to the company, all Idea subscribers (prepaid and postpaid) will be able to avail this facility to recharge their phones and bills.

Meanwhile, Idea Cellular, as an answer to Reliance Jio, currently offers, unlimited voice calling and 0.5 GB data per day for 28 days priced at Rs 348. This means users will get 14GB data per month. Interestingly, the offer by Idea is not available for all. Idea Cellular subscribers will have to check if they are eligible for the deal, on the MyIdea app. Subscribers are needed to have a 4G handset (but not a 4G-enabled SIM) to avail this new offer from Idea.This move by Idea is for low internet users, by encouraging them to use more internet.