Reliance Jio free offer extended, competitor cries foul -Governance Now

Reliance Jio free offer extended, competitor cries foul

Business honcho Mukesh Ambani announces that Jio’s data, voice and video will be free till March 31.

Taru Bhatia | December 1, 2016 | New Delhi

#Idea Cellular #offer #Mukesh Ambani #Reliance Jio

Reliance Communications Ltd chief Mukesh Ambani on Thursday said that every new Jio user will get Jio’s Data, Voice, Video and the full bouquet of Jio applications absolutely free till March 31, 2017.

He called it the Jio happy new year offer.

At least one telecom competitor was unhappy with the move, while a telecom analyst said that Reliance is apparently not violating any Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) guidelines.

“Reliance has exceeded their trial period of 90 days and it should have got over on December 3. We now have to see how TRAI is going to take act,” said Rajat Mukherji, chief corporate affairs officer, Idea Cellular.

#jiooffer Tweets

Mukherji added that by introducing free services, Reliance is depriving the government of revenue.

A telecom expert, however, said that Reliance is not violating any TRAI guidelines as “it is offering free services as part of the commercial roll-out and not trial version”.

He also said that the benefits are going directly to the consumers and the company is not profiting from it. “Since profit is not being generated, Reliance is not breaching the law.”

In a series of tweets, Mukesh Ambani said that 80% of Jio users consume less than 1 GB of data daily. “1 GB per day is 30 times the average usage on other networks.”

Comments

Other News

BMC: 207 officials in ACB net, 112 still on duty, 68 retire before justice catches up

There are significant delays in the handling of corruption cases involving officials of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), a Right to Information (RTI) response obtained by rights activist Jeetendra Ghadge has revealed. As of 30 April 2026, 207 BMC officials face Anti-Corruption Bureau (A

The transformation trap: Why efficiency is not innovation

Every company is transforming, or so it claims. There was a time when the word ‘transformation’ carried weight. It signified bold strategic shifts, reinvention of business models, and breakthrough technologies that fundamentally changed how organizations created

The Sardar biography that throws light on our times

Patel: A Life By Rajmohan Gandhi Aleph Books, 568 pages, Rs 1,199 There are many biographi

Climate change, El Niño rewrite Indian monsoon

The month of July exceeded its rainfall target despite forecasts of a below-normal month under a strengthening El Niño. The reason could be that climate change is amplifying monsoon complexity: West Pacific warming, Western Disturbances and evolving ocean conditions increasingly interact with El Ni&

Mumbai has just 1.28 sq.m. of open space per person: Study

Mumbai`s public space crisis is as much about mismanagement as it is about scarcity, and offers a governance roadmap that can be implemented without new legislation, according to a new report by the Urban Design Research Institute (UDRI) and the NGO Alliance for Governance and Renewal (NAGAR).

Lok Sabha passes amendment bill to improve public examination system

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 by a voice vote after an extensive discussion. Replying to the debate, minister of state (independent charge) for science & technology; earth sciences and MoS in the PMO, Dr. Jite