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12 months, 13 recharges: Raghav Chadha flags prepaid mobile ‘scam’ in Parliament
Raghav Chadha said he had raised the issue of what he described as the “loot being perpetrated on Prepaid Recharge Customers in Parliament today.”
Aam Aadmi Party MP Raghav Chadha on Wednesday raised concerns in Parliament over prepaid mobile recharge practices, arguing that the current system places an unfair burden on consumers. He questioned the 28-day recharge cycle used by telecom companies and restrictions imposed on users once their plans expire.
Taking to social media after his intervention in the House, Chadha said he had raised the issue of what he described as the “loot being perpetrated on Prepaid Recharge Customers in Parliament today.”
“If your recharge runs out, it makes sense for outgoing calls to be blocked, but blocking incoming calls is arbitrary. As soon as the recharge expires, neither can anyone contact you, nor can essential messages like OTPs reach your phone. In emergency situations, the person becomes helpless,” he shared on X.
Chadha also criticised the widely used 28-day recharge cycle, calling it “a scam.”
“The 28-day recharge plan is a scam. There are 12 months in a year, but you have to recharge 13 times (28 days x 13 times = 364 days),” he said.
He added that recharge validity should ideally be aligned with calendar months of 30 or 31 days, arguing that the current system effectively forces users to pay for an additional recharge each year.
“In today's time, a mobile is no longer a luxury, but has become a necessity for the common citizen,” Chadha said, urging telecom companies to adopt a fair and transparent approach towards consumers.
Popular services providers like Jio, Airtel and Vodafone have both data pack and calling recharge options, varied at 1.5, 2.5 or 3.5 GB, among other plans.
Customers get notified days before and several times before their recharge is set to expire and are urged to get their top-up done.
