Airtel Does a Jio, Launches 4G Smartphone at Effectively Rs 1,399

Airtel partners with Karbonn mobiles to launch a smartphone at Rs 1,399 effectively.

The new Karbonn A40 Indian launched in India

(Photo: The Quint/Canva)

Bharti Airtel and Karbonn Mobiles on Wednesday announced their partnership to bring affordable 4G smartphones dubbed the Karbonn A40 Indian to the market, effectively at the price of a feature phone.

The Karbonn A40 Indian comes at an effective price of just Rs 1,399 (compared to its current market price of approximately Rs 3,499).

The 4G smartphone is bundled with a monthly pack of Rs 169 from Airtel, which offers data and calling benefit.

Also Read: After Jio Phone, Airtel to Launch a 4G Smartphone for Rs 2500 Only

Karbonn A40 comes with a full touch display(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@sanjaybafna)

1.

Registration for Karbonn A40 Indian: Rs 2,899

Registration for Jio Phone: Rs 1,500

2.

Effective price of Karbonn A40 Indian after cashback: Rs 1,399 (and keep phone)

Effective price of Jio Phone after cashback: Rs 0 (but phone to be returned)

3.

Minimum recharge required on Karbonn A40 Indian to get Rs 1,500 cashback: Rs 6000

Minimum recharge required on Jio Phone to get Rs 1,500 cashback: Rs 4,500

4.

Monthly tariff plan with Karbonn A40 Indian: Rs 169

Monthly tariff plan with Jio Phone: Rs 153

5.

Total effective cost to customers in 36 months using Karbonn A40 India: Rs 7,399

Total effective cost to customers in 36 months using Jio Phone: Rs 4,500

The Karbonn A40 Indian is a full touchscreen smartphone.

To purchase the phone, the customer needs to make a down payment of Rs 2,899 for the 4G smartphone and make 36 continuous monthly recharges of Rs 169. The customer will get a cash refund of Rs 500 after 18 months and another Rs 1,000 after 36 months, taking the total cash benefit to Rs 1,500.

You have to recharge worth Rs 3,000 within 18 months to avail cashback benefits(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@sanjaybafna)

Offers from Airtel on the Karbonn A40 Indian(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@sanjaybafna)

Airtel in a statement said, they plan to partner with multiple manufacturers to bring affordable smartphone options to the market and build an ‘open ecosystem' of low cost devices.

In case the customer does not wish to opt for the Rs 169 bundled plan, they have the flexibility of getting recharges for any denomination and validity as per individual requirements.

Also Read: Jio Phone First Look: Why So Much Buzz Over a Feature Phone?

However, to claim the cash refund benefit, recharges worth Rs 3,000 must be done within the first 18 months (to claim the first refund installment of Rs 500) and another Rs 3,000 over the next 18 months (to claim the second refund installment of Rs 1,000).

Cashback offer with the Karbonn A40 Indian(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@sanjaybafna)

The company further clarified that the ownership of the smartphone is completely with the customer and there is no need to return the device to Airtel/Karbonn at any point to claim the cash benefit.

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