Idea Cellular has also announced it will provide free incoming calls on national roaming to its customers starting April 1. This facility will be available on both prepaid and postpaid connections across 2G, 3G and 4G networks.

This move is seen as an attempt to tackle a similar offer made by Reliance Jio on February 21. Bharti Airtel too had announced free incoming and outgoing roaming calls as well as SMSes last month.

“Effective April 1, 2017, Idea’s 200 million customers will enjoy free incoming calls while roaming on the company’s 2G, 3G and 4G networks across 400,000 towns and villages in the country,” a statement Idea read. While the mobile data tariffs and home data pack benefits will be available on national roaming, outgoing calls and SMSes will be made available at “affordable rates”, the statement said.

Moreover, the third-largest telecom operator in the country has also introduced unlimited incoming calls, 400 minutes of outgoing calls, 100 SMSes per day and a large data volume on international roaming for those visiting popular destinations.

“The packs start at Rs 1,199 for 10 days and go up to Rs 5,999 for 30 days validity,” the statement said. For short leisure travel, a 10-day pack can be chosen, and for longer stay, 30-day packs will be made available.