Jio announces 'Dhan Dhana Dhan' : 100% cash back on Rs399 recharge

Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio is at it again, potentially triggering a fresh price war with a new Dhan Dhana Dhan offer where users will get 100 per cent cashback on a recharge of Rs399.

The offer will start today and end on 18 October. While announcing the offer, Jio says that it is a Diwali gift from the company to its millions of customers.

Under a new pricing strategy, prepaid customers of the 3-month Rs399 recharge will get full cashback by way of eight vouchers of Rs50 each, which they can use for future recharges (after 15 November).

The new Dhan Dhana Dhan offer will be available on both online and offline recharges. Jio users will have to use the MyJio app, or Jio.com website, or head for Jio Store outlets or  Reliance Digital large-format stores. For offline recharge they can use Jio's partnered offline retail stores and online platforms like JioMoney, Paytm, Amazon Pay, and MobiKwik.

But then there's a catch. The vouchers can only be redeemed after 15 November, and the Jio users can redeem only one voucher at a time and not all at ones.

So supposing a Jio user with the Rs50 vouchers get a Rs399 recharge done after 15 November. While recharging, the customer can produce one of the 8 Rs50 vouchers. This means that users after applying the voucher will have to pay Rs349.

Coming weeks after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India effected a drastic cut in the interconnect usage charge (IUC), the Reliance Jio offer is likely to set off a new tariff war in the Indian telecom sector.

On Wednesday, India's top telecom operator Bharti Airtel has partnered with Karbonn Mobiles to sell 4G smartphone at an effective price of Rs1,399, undercutting Jio's 4G featurephone priced at Rs1,500, through an initiative called 'Mera Pehla 4G Smartphone'.

The phone - Karbonn A40 Indian with a retail p .. price of Rs3,499 - will be sold for an upfront payment of Rs2,899. Airtel will give cash back of Rs1,500 to buyers of the phone over three years.

This, however, comes with a rider - consumers must recharge their phones with a minimum pack of Rs169 every month. The recharge will offer unlimited voice calls and 500 MB data per day.