But the path leading up to this day hasn't been an easy one for Jio. It's been a year since its inception and incumbents have argued Jio's methods of growing in the telecom sector. After successfully dodging any obstacle that came its way, Jio has over 130 million users enjoying the benefits of unlimited voice calls, affordable 4G data, free roaming, and SMS.
At the launch of the service last September, RIL chairman and MD Mukesh Ambani had promised that calls on Jio's network would remain free for life. And the company fulfilled that promise even after it ended the free offerings in April. But that changes now.
TelecomTalk exclusively reported that Reliance Jio is limited its voice calls to 300 minutes per day, and the same was confirmed to the paper by the Jio Priority team. As it turns out, the reason behind the shocking step is to prevent misuse of the unlimited voice-calling scheme.
In one example, the company's priority team said that some users had been using Jio's 4G VoLTE network for making promotions by making free calls on its network. By placing FUP limit on the calls will help Jio put an end to such notoriety.
But it is also worth mentioning that Jio is not limiting all of its users to 300 minutes per day calls. Without revealing any specific criteria for falling under the category with FUP limit on calls, a company executive told the TelecomTalk that users making over 10 hours of voice calls will be limited to 300 minutes per day.
While this move will help Jio stop the bad actors on its network, it also takes away the one unique advantage it had over its competitors. After Jio's competitive tariffs went live, rivals such as Airtel and Idea introduced new plans with affordable data and free voice call minutes. It seems Jio's decision to step back is going to close the gap further between its rivals.
