Kerala people to access Free data, talktime

Kerala, Aug 17: The flood situation in Kerala is worsening with the death toll rising to 200 people. During such massive crisis situation telecom operators in the country have come up with initiatives to help affected people in the state.

Telcos like Airtel, Vodafone, Jio, BSNL, Idea are offering data and calling benefits to prepaid customers in the state, while postpaid users are getting extension on bill payments as well as uninterrupted services due to the disruption resulting from Kerala floods.

Airtel will also be providing free Wi-Fi and calling facility to affected users, and is providing them the option to recharge their phones’ batteries at select Airtel stores.

The telecom operator is also deploying VSAT at five major relief centers in Kerala to provide free Wi-Fi and calling facilities.Customers who are unable to charge their phone can do so and also make free calls from select Airtel flagship stores located in Thrissur, Calicut, Malappuram, Kannur, Kottayam, Trivandrum & Ernakulam.

Vodafone: Vodafone is also offering calling against the credit of Rs 30 per day to pre-paid customers with 1 GB of free mobile data, just like Airtel. Customers need to activate this by sending a text message saying CREDIT to 144 or by dialing *130*1#. Postpaid customers, on the other hand, get an uninterrupted service extension on bill payments.

Jio: For a period of one week, Reliance Jio subscribers in flood-hit Kerala will get free voice calling and data. Jio already has unlimited voice calling in several of its plans.

Idea: Idea is offering an emergency talk time credit of Rs 10 to all its prepaid customers in Kerala. To activate this, customers will have to dial *150*150#. Additionally, all prepaid customers will also receive free 1 GB data which will be valid again for seven days.Idea's postpaid customers, get an extended due date for bill payments, and those who cannot charge their phone can do so by going to any company store nearby.

BSNL: State-owned telecom operator BSNL has offered free calls to both BSNL and non-BSNL numbers, however, limited to only 20 minutes per day. Additionally, SMS and data will be free for customers for a weeklong periodWe are sending our prayers to Kerala, that it gets out of the flood havoc soon. Head to the Kerala Relief fund website if you want to help and donate some money.