Bharti Airtel on October 11 announced it was collaborating with Karbonn Mobiles to offer a smartphone – Karbonn A40 Indian -- at an effective price of Rs 1,399. The collaboration is part of Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel’s ‘Mera pehla 4G smartphone’ initiative, which aims at providing affordable 4G smartphone to people seeking to move from feature phones to smartphones and experience high-speed internet on the go. The Bharti Airtel announcement seems to again have pitten the telecom major against Reliance Jio, which recently launched its 4G feature phone, JioPhone, which is virtually free. Some prospective buyers might be confused which between JioPhone and the Airtel-Karbonn handset to go for.
JioPhone is India’s first 4G-enabled feature phone, bundled with free call, SMS, subscription to Jio apps and free data. Effectively priced free of cost, the phone can be availed of by depositing a security of Rs 1,500 refundable after 36 months subjected to terms and conditions.
Here is a quick look at the terms and conditions of Reliance JioPhone and Airtel’s bundled Karbon A40 Indian smartphone:
Airtel
- To avail the Karbonn A40 Indian smartphone, customer needs to make a down-payment of Rs 2,899.
- The phone comes bundled with a no-frills contract from Bharti Airtel that requires a monthly recharge of Rs 169 per month for 36 months for a cashback of Rs 1,500 – in two installments of 18 months each.
- After successful completion of first 18 months, user will get the first cashback of Rs 500 from Airtel. The second cashback of Rs 1,000 is credit to user’s account after successful completion of 36 months.
- The cashback brings down the effective price of Karbonn A40 Indian smartphone to Rs 1,399.
- The cashback is subjected to terms and conditions, which dictates that the user should either recharge with Rs 169 per month and enjoy the bundled benefits with the smartphone or recharge a total of Rs 3,000 in 18 months and Rs 6,000 in 36 months to get the cashbacks.
- In Rs 169 monthly recharge, Airtel offers unlimited local and STD calls coupled with 0.5GB data per day valid for 28 days.
- The customer is not restricted to use Airtel SIM card in the smartphone. Rather, customer is free to change the SIM card at any point in time if he/she wants to switch to other network. But, that will void the contract and revoke cashback and bundle offer benefits.
- At no point in time customer is liable to return the device to the Karbonn or Airtel and the ownership of the device lies with the customer.
- The Karbonn A40 Indian uses Android operating system and, therefore, can access wide spectrum of apps and services available in Google’s ecosystem. The phone comes installed with Airtel apps as well.
Reliance JioPhone
- JioPhone can be availed by making a down-payment of Rs 1,500 security deposit, which is refundable after 36 months.
- The phone comes bundled with a Jio offer that requires a monthly recharge of Rs 153 per month or a cumulative recharge amount of Rs 1,500 per annum for 3 years.
- Failing to recharge minimum Rs 1,500 per annum revokes the refundable security deposit amount in lieu of it.
- The JioPhone is restricted for use only on Jio network and the scope of using any other SIM card in the device is ruled out.
- The subscriber is bound to make a cumulative payment of Rs 1,500 towards recharges per annum for 3 years. Failing to do so allows the company to repossess the JioPhone.
- The JioPhone recipients willing to return the device early will be charged ‘Early Return Charges’, which are as follows
| Time of Return of JioPhone | Early Return Charges |
|---|---|
| Upto 12 months from the date of first issue of the JioPhone | Rs 1,500 plus applicable GST or other taxes |
| After 12 months and up to 24 months from the date of first issue of the JioPhone | Rs 1,000 plus applicable GST or other taxes |
| After 24 months and up to 36 months from the date of first issue of the JioPhone | Rs 500 plus applicable GST or other taxes |
- The security deposit is refundable only after completion of 36-months and before 39-months from the date of first issue of JioPhone.
- The security deposit would be forfeited without any further notice to the recipient if the phone is not returned within the 3-month window post completion of 36-months.
- The recipient cannot resell, lease, assign, and transfer or otherwise dispose-of the JioPhone in any manner whatsoever.