More than 95% of Indian mobile phone users are prepaid subscribers and mobile network providers are always on the go dishing out latest tariff plans with customized benefits to draw the attention of new subscribers. Lifetime free incoming calls is now a common thing, but back in the days when the first handsets came into the market, it was not a free thing, it was charged. For the first time, "lifetime free incoming" call facility came into the picture almost a decade ago, where the users had to pay around Rs 999 to avail the service.

Networks charged a minimum recharge of at least Rs 10 in six months to avail the free incoming calls service. Network operators in India have made sea of changes to their tariff plans, in the recent times.

Jio has done some trailblazing moves in the market, making competitors amend their plans, look where they stood in the game making the market more dynamic. Jio began with offering mobile data at throwaway prices for the whole year, unlimited free local and national voice calls. Jio network users get free incoming and outgoing calls, and they are only charged for data. This clicked with the users instantly, especially in times when the average data consumption is rising at a brisk space. This move has surely affected the profits of other networks. To meet the rising costs, telecom sector majors Idea Cellular and Vodafone had to go in for a merger. Now, network providers are looking for ways to boost their Average Revenue Per User (ARPU). A possibility is to actually start charging users for incoming calls, which was stopped a decade ago. This move might cause a dip in the subscriber-ship, so cleverly they shall not charge per minute for an incoming call.

Telecom companies are rooting in for minimum recharge plans starting at Rs 35 and 28 days validity. There are even other plans priced at Rs 65 and 95 too, and are being offered by Airtel, Vodafone and Idea. Reliance Jio also has an budget plan priced at Rs 98 with a validity 28 days.

Essentially, recharging with these minimum prepaid plans would ensure that you continue getting mobile services, especially incoming calls. The Rs 35 plan also includes talk time of Rs 26 and 100 MB data, which should be good enough for those who don’t use data, and make many outgoing calls.