Jio Prime membership opens on March 1: New tariff plans revealed

HIGHLIGHTS

• Reliance Jio said to offer cheapest Prime plan at Rs. 149
• Rs. 499 pack said to offer 60GB data with no daily data limit
• The Jio Prime plans come into effect from April 1

You can subscribe to Reliance Jio Prime from Wednesday, March 1 until March 31. While Reliance Jio had only revealed one new tariff plan when it announced the Prime subscription, a new report claims that Reliance Jio will offer two new monthly plans apart from the Rs. 303 plan announced last week. Reliance Jio will reportedly offer a Rs. 149 pack under which subscribers will receive unlimited voice calls and 2GB 4G data without any daily cap for a month. Another pack will be cost Rs. 499, and will also offer 60GB 4G data with 2GB daily data cap while will offer unlimited voice calls.

To recall, the company last week announced its new Jio Prime subscription plan, which will now charge over 100 million subscribers for data and other services from April 1. Reliance Jio had announced a Rs. 303 per month pack under which existing Jio customers will get unlimited data, calls, text messages, and other services that users get as part of Jio's Happy New Year Offer.

According to a Moneycontrol report citing a CLSA note, Reliance Jio will also offer long duration plans priced at Rs. 999 with a validity of 60 days and data allowance of 60GB, Rs. 1,999 for 90 days with 125GB data, Rs. 4,999 for 180 days with 350GB data, and Rs. 9,999 for 360 days with 750GB. All these Jio Prime plans are said to come with no daily limit.

"As per our discussion with channel partners and retailers, Reliance Jio has revealed more tariff plans under the "Jio Prime Program" that requires one-time membership charge of Rs 99 to be paid before March 31, 2017," said CLSA in a note.

Reliance Jio's new Jio Prime is an extension of the unlimited services offered under the Happy New Year Offer by another year, and every subscriber needs to pay Rs. 99 annual fees for the Jio Prime subscription. Jio Prime subscriptions will kick off from Wednesday and will end on March 31, 2017. After March 31, Reliance Jio subscribers won't be able to avail the bundled services at Rs. 303 per month. The Jio Prime plans come into effect from April 1, 2017, the day the existing Jio Happy New Year Offer expires.

Reliance Jio Aims to Disrupt Taxi Space With App-Based Taxi Service: Report

Reliance Jio Infocomm, which has disrupted the Indian telecom space with free data and voice services, pushing other telecom operators to consider merger and acquisition strategies, is now planning to disrupt India’s taxi space with the launch of an app-based taxi service. Reliance Jio Cabs, expected to be launched as early as this year.

Reliance Jio claims to be a digital company than mere a telecom operator, and it already offers a slew of digital services spanning across video, music, Live TV and cloud service among others.

The Mukesh Ambani-led 4G entrant has reportedly ordered around 600 cars for its fleet from makers such as Mahindra and Hyundai to begin the service.

Jio’s taxi service is likely to be launched in Bangalore and Chennai initially, followed by a similar launch in Delhi and Mumbai, according to FactorDaily. It also reported that Jio is looking to bring in aggressive pricing to take on companies like Uber and Ola in the taxi service segment.

According to the publication sources, Jio has also appointed consulting firm E&Y to advise it on pricing strategies that align with Reliance Industries Chairman Ambani’s plans to go all out to get market share.

Reliance Jio has been offering free data and voice services, and it has recently crossed over 100 million customers before its March 31, 2017, target. The telco recently announced its Prime service for these 100 million customers and new customers joining Jio network before March 31, 2017.

Under the Prime service, Jio subscribers will have to pay Rs. 303 every month for the next one year and will get 1GB of data every day, or 30GB in a month, which is a much higher quantum and far cheaper than any of the offers of incumbent operators, besides paying a nominal opt-in charge of Rs 99.

Jio will also start charging its customers starting April 1, 2017