Reliance Jio launches 4G Jio Bharat phones for Rs 999

The new affordable Reliance Jio Bharat feature-phones support UPI payment option, unlimited calls, 14GB data pack per month and more

Akash Ambani-helmed Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, on Monday (July 3), announced bringing a new internet-enabled phone priced at Rs 999 in India.

Though there more than 800 million people have access to the Internet through smartphones, tablets, and computers, there are around 250 million people who are still using basic 2G handsets with limited connection to the Internet and also lack of Unified Payment Interface (UPI) support for digital payments.

So, Reliance Jio, through the '2G-Mukt Bharat' initiative, aims to upgrade feature phones to the new Jio Bharat OS platform to deliver a better user experience including access to the internet and also digital payment capabilities.

Reliance Jio is also partnering with indigenous brands such as Karbonn to offer Jio Bharat OS-based phones. The company plans to start beta testing on one million Bharat Jio phones this weekend from July 7 across 6,500 tehsils (talukas) across India.

Reliance JioBharat Phone will lucrative data offers, access to the internet and value-added apps for entertainment. Credit: Reliance

Reliance Jio is offering special monthly and annual plans with lucrative offers including unlimited voice calls. For the monthly plan of Rs 123, subscribers get a 14GB data pack (0.5GB per day). And, for an annual plan of Rs 1,234, subscribers get 168GB of data (0.5GB per day). The new tariff plans are said to be almost 30 per cent cheaper and yet offer seven times more internet data access, than those offered by the rival brands in India.

The JioBharat plan also offers access to the JioCinema OTT app, JioPay, and JioSaavn music app.

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