BSNL Cuts Validity of Rs 197 Recharge Plan to 54 Days with New Restrictions on Data, SMS, and Calls: Here’s What This Plan Now Offer

India’s state-run telecom operator BSNL is reducing the validity of one of its most affordable prepaid plans. This plan offers several benefits to users who are looking for an affordable option in terms of recharging their SIMs. This is the Rs 197 prepaid plan, which was earlier seen as a cost-effective option for users who wanted to maintain basic services. Nevertheless, it still carries the same price, but there are changes in its benefits in terms of validity and features.

Rs 197 Revised Plan:

BSLN has made one of the biggest changes in its most affordable recharge plan of Rs 197 and that is the reduction in validity. The company has reduced the 70 days validity down to just 54 days. Earlier, users got 15 days of unlimited voice calls along with 2GB of daily data. In addition, there was 100 SMS per day. But now, these daily allowances are gone and instead users will get 300 minutes of voice calling accompanying with it a total of 4GB data.

Other than this, subscribers will also get 100 SMS for the entire validity period. Nevertheless, as soon as the 4GB data is consumed, users will be shifted to a drastically reduced speed of 40Kbps. As far as 40Kbps is concerned, it is only suitable for basic meetings and minimal browsing.

While the plan technically lasts 54 days, the usable benefits are quite limited compared to what was offered earlier.

Why This Reduced Features Matters to Subscribers

BSNL Rs 197 plan was often favored by the buyers for its affordability along with ample of features and full-fledged data, but with the reduction in both talktime and data, users may not consider this plan now or look for alternatives that offer better value.

What caught attention is that this adjustment comes at a time when BSNL as a company has been showing some of the greatest financial progress including last quarter of FY 2024–25 which reported a profit of Rs 280 crore.