Reliance Jio launches new postpaid family plans to take on Airtel

Reliance Industries' telecom unit Reliance Jio has launched new postpaid plans starting at ₹399 per month for a family of four persons.

The additional three add-on connections will be available at ₹99 per SIM, taking the total monthly charge for four postpaid connections to ₹696 for a family of four.

The Jio Plus family plan offers free of cost services to a family of four for a month. The ₹399 per month plan provides 75 GB data at 5G speed with unlimited calling and messaging. The ₹699 per month offers 100 GB data at 5G speed with unlimited calling and messaging, as well as subscriptions to Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

The ₹699 plan, coupled with the three additional SIM cards, will take the total to ₹996 per month.

In comparison, Airtel's family postpaid plans start at ₹999 per month with 100 GB data and unlimited calling. This also includes 100 SMSes and a subscription for Amazon Prime Video.

"The idea behind launching Jio Plus is to offer exciting new benefits and experiences to the discerning postpaid users," Akash Ambani, chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd., says in a statement. "After having serviced over 430 million customers, that includes millions of satisfied postpaid users, there cannot be a more opportune time to welcome millions of new postpaid customers."

"Many postpaid users want to be convinced about the service experience and the ease of switching to a new service provider. The free trial with Jio Plus plans addresses these issues," says Ambani.

Jio has further strengthened its network experience by expanding True 5G to 331 cities, he adds.

Jio Plus will be available beginning March 22, 2023 in all Jio Stores and via home delivery.

The launch comes at a time when Jio has struggled to make a big dent in its postpaid subscriber base. The telco aims to garner higher average revenue per user (ARPU) from its news postpaid plans.

Reliance Jio's ARPU for the December quarter stood at ₹178.20 as against ₹177.2 in the previous quarter. Rival Airtel’s average revenue per user (ARPU) for the quarter stood at ₹193 as compared to ₹163 in Q3 FY22 on the back of the telecom operator’s continued focus on premiumisation.

Net profit of Bharti Airtel, India's second-largest telecom operator, rose 91.5% year-on-year to ₹1,588 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2022.