Reliance Jio launches 4G mobile phone at an effective price of Rs 0

Honestly, Mukesh Ambani never stops to surprise us. While most of us were awaiting a Rs 500 4G feature phone, Reliance Jio has announced a phone that apparently comes for free.

Yes, you read that right. The "India ka Smartphone" as Mukesh Ambani called it comes for an "effective price of Rs 0," only that you have to pay a "fully refundable" Rs 1,500 deposit.

"A JioPhone user can use the JioPhone for 36 months, and can get a full refund of the security deposit of Rs 1,500 by returning the used JioPhone. Net-net, you pay nothing for the JioPhone. It is free!!," claimed Reliance Industries chairman.

The JioPhone, targeted at 50 crore feature phone users in the country, will be available for pre-booking from 24 August on payment of a refundable security deposit of Rs 1,500. This deposit will be refunded after 36 months on return of the phone.

JioPhone users will get unlimited 4G data at Rs 153 per month, and all voice calls and SMS will be free.

"JioPhone will make the 2G feature phone obsolete," he added, saying that the company is looking to bring 5 million phones to the market a week. The JioPhone will be available for user testing in beta mode from August 15 and for pre-booking from August 24.

Though Reliance Jio was launched in India in September, the company's expansion plans had been restricted to smartphone users as it is a 4G only network and feature phones don't support VoLTE technology. This will, however, change now as the new phone comes with 4G VoLTE support.

The JioPhone will also include access to apps like JioCinema, JioTV, and JioMusic. The company will also be adding NFC support to the JioPhone to allow tap and pay solutions with a linked bank account. This will also support UPI payments, and debit and credit card payments, similar to Samsung Pay, the company added.

"Digital Life will no longer be the privilege of the affluent few," said Ambani. Out of the 78 crore phones in India, he said, 50 crore are feature phones that cannot be used for Internet or data usage. The new phone would give "affordable" device to these 50 crore users and "end the digital exclusion in India".