Currently, people in various rural areas of India are unable to use Reliance Jio internet. The reason is that Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio has increased the recharge price on July 3, 2024. As a result of Jio’s increase in its recharge plans, many Indian villagers are unable to recharge or find it very difficult to do so.Due to this, people find it very difficult to talk or communicate with their loved ones.
Families with low incomes in rural areas have been the ones most negatively impacted by the price increase of this recharge plan. After learning about the increase in the price of this recharge plan from the people living in the rural areas of India, it is understood that the people there are currently finding it very difficult to recharge on Jio. Not only Jio but also Airtel and Vodafone users are in the same situation.
In the fiscal year 2023–24 (FY24), Reliance Jio added 481.8 million new customers, up 42.4 million from the previous year, according to Business Standard. 108 million of these have 5G enabled. (40.60%wireless market share)
Airtel: wireless market share- 33.17% and customers- 387.77 million
Vodafone Idea (Vi): wireless market share- 18.56% and customers- 217.30 million
Reliance Jio had the most mobile subscribers in rural India as of December 2023—over 202 million—across all service providers, according to Statista data. At more than 185 million, Airtel ranked second in terms of rural subscribers. and Vodafone comes in third.
A look at the statistics of users in rural areas shows that they have been hit hard by this price hike. Jio, Airtel, and VI recharge prices have affected everyone in India, but rural areas have been affected the most. People in rural areas claim that “Previously, they only thought about food, clothes, and shelter. Now, they are thinking about how to recharge next month.”
More information also indicates that, whereas four or three family members always recharged their phones before the hike in prices, it is now extremely difficult for even one member of the family to do so following the hike in prices.
Also, the number of recharges seems too high for many people due to unemployment and poor financial conditions. Because daily wages in rural areas are currently 250-350 rupees ($2.99-4.19 in US currency).
In Indian villages, the majority of people work in agriculture; very few are employed by the government or in other fields. So they are currently struggling to recharge their mobiles. Besides, daily wage rates in rural areas are much lower than some recharge rates.
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