Airtel to Discontinue ₹249 Prepaid Plan Offering 1GB/Day and Unlimited Calls
From midnight, Airtel will discontinue its popular ₹249 prepaid plan. Over 3,500 users also reported service outages across major cities.
Airtel Follows Jio, Removes ₹249 Entry-Level Pack with 1GB Data Per Day
Bharti Airtel will discontinue its popular ₹249 prepaid plan from midnight on August 20, 2025, mirroring a recent move by rival Reliance Jio.
The plan — long regarded as Airtel’s entry-level recharge option — offered 1GB daily data, unlimited local/STD/roaming calls, and 100 SMS per day with a 24-day validity.
Airtel confirms removal 🚨
A notice on the Airtel Thanks app states:
“Effective 00:00 Hours, 20th Aug 2025, recharge 249 will be discontinued.”
The discontinuation comes shortly after Jio withdrew its own ₹249 plan, signaling a broader industry push to migrate prepaid users toward higher-value or longer-duration packs.
Airtel has not yet announced any direct replacement plan. Analysts suggest that this could lead to increased average revenue per user (ARPU) as customers are nudged into costlier recharge options.
Airtel outage hits services ⚡
In a separate development, Airtel services experienced widespread disruptions on Monday. Outage tracker Downdetector recorded over 3,500 complaints around 4:30 PM IST, with issues concentrated on the Airtel Thanks app, which became unresponsive for many users.
Breakdown of complaints:
♦ 68%: Mobile phone service issues
♦ 16%: Mobile internet problems
♦ 15%: No signal reported
Regions affected included Delhi, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Patna, Jaipur, Indore, Nagpur, Kolkata and other major cities, showing disruptions across northern and eastern India.
Bottom line: Airtel’s move to kill its ₹249 plan marks a strategic shift in prepaid pricing, while temporary outages have added to subscriber frustration.
