Government telecom company BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited) has made major changes to its popular ₹197 prepaid plan.
These updates are now visible on the company’s official website. The aim is to improve user experience and boost revenue.
Old Benefits of the ₹197 Plan
Earlier, this plan offered users:
2GB data per day
Unlimited voice calling
100 SMS per day
However, these main benefits were available only for the first 15 days. The total validity of the plan was 70 days, which made it a good option for people who wanted to keep a secondary SIM or a low-use number active.
New Structure of the ₹197 Plan
BSNL has now completely changed the plan’s structure. Under the new format, users will get:
4GB total data
300 minutes of voice calling
100 SMS (total)
54 days of validity
Now, instead of daily benefits, users get a fixed amount of data, calls, and SMS that can be used over 54 days. This is suitable for users with low usage who mainly want to keep their SIM active.
BSNL’s New Strategy and Jio’s Competing Plans
This update is part of BSNL’s strategy to increase its ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) and attract different types of users, especially as it rolls out 4G services nationwide.
Meanwhile, Reliance Jio also offers two data plans under ₹200 that include a JioHotstar subscription:
₹100 plan: 5GB data + JioHotstar for 90 days (works on mobile and TV)
₹195 plan: 15GB data + JioHotstar for 90 days (no call or SMS benefits, as it’s a data-only plan)
