Bengalureans scramble to buy Jio SIM cards

Hundreds of people thronged the outlets of Reliance Digital and Reliance Express in Bengaluru on Tuesday to buy the SIM cards of Reliance Jio which launched full-fledged services a day earlier.

At first, one would assume they were scrambling to buy movie tickets. By 10.30 am, scores of people had lined up outside the Reliance Digital store at Orion Mall in Rajajinagar before the outlet opened.

A manager at a Reliance Express outlet said that they were seeing hundreds of people gather before they opened every morning. “We had run out of stock on Monday and Tuesday. There are also many enquiries about when the SIM cards would be back in stock,” he said. The stores have introduced a coupon system to manage the crowd. “Most of the customers are aware of the procedure to buy the SIM card and hence there is not much of confusion,” he remarked.

To buy the Jio SIM card, one should instal the Jio mobile phone applications following which a bar code would be generated. The barcode can be submitted to the store to get the coupon. Vallish, a customer who visited the store at Orion Mall, said he got the barcode last week. “I took a day off to collect the SIM card as there was heavy rush. The store opens only by 11 am.”

At store in Seshadripuram put up a notice, saying the stock of SIM cards would be available after two days. Meanwhile, a few customers took to the social media to complain that their SIM cards had not been activated though they had applied several days earlier.