Your BSNL Recharge Now Comes With Insurance. Check Details
BSNL Recharge now includes an insurance benefit for eligible users, offering additional protection with select plans. Check the coverage, eligibility and key details.
BSNL Recharge plans now come with an insurance benefit, adding protection alongside mobile connectivity.
BSNL Recharge: For most Indians, a prepaid recharge ends with a confirmation message and nothing more. For subscribers of two Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) plans, the same recharge now also buys an insurance policy. BSNL has introduced free insurance benefits with its STV 202 and STV 2449 prepaid plans, with accidental death cover of up to ₹1 lakh and cyber fraud protection of up to ₹10,000. The company has partnered with Oriental Insurance Company (OICL) to provide the benefit at no extra cost for eligible subscribers.
The announcement came on BSNL’s Foundation Day, 1 October. It was one of two customer-focused initiatives, the other being a choice of OTT platforms for Bharat Fibre broadband users. BSNL took over telecom services and network management from the Department of Telecom Services and the Department of Telecom Operations on 1 October 2000.
BSNL Recharge: What the two plans offer
The STV 202 plan offers 300 minutes of voice calls, 5GB of data and 100 SMSes. Regional reports put its validity at 30 days. The accidental cover applies in cases of road accidents, burns, snake bites, lightning strikes and electrocution.
The STV 2449 plan has a validity of 365 days and offers unlimited voice calling, 2GB of data per day and 100 SMSes per day. Its insurance cover becomes active automatically within 24 hours after an eligible recharge and remains valid as long as the plan is active.
Coverage on both plans is subject to the terms and conditions of Oriental Insurance Company.
Also Read: India’s Insurers Are Spending Faster Than They Are Selling, McKinsey Finds
BSNL Recharge: Conditions for the cyber fraud cover
The cyber fraud protection is tied to a specific set-up. It applies only when the user’s BSNL mobile number is linked to their bank account. Any such incident must be reported within seven days for a claim to be eligible.
The cover is aimed partly at rural and informal-sector users. According to BSNL’s chairman and managing director, the move is intended to help groups such as farm workers, farmers and fishermen. Robert J. Ravi holds the post of Chairman and Managing Director of BSNL.
BSNL Recharge: Not the first telecom-insurance bundle
Telecom operators have attached insurance to recharges before. In 2015, Tata Docomo announced free accidental death cover of up to ₹3 lakh for prepaid GSM customers in the Mumbai circle, in partnership with Edelweiss Insurance Brokers, subject to recharge conditions. BSNL’s offer pairs accident cover with a cyber fraud component and is linked to specific plans rather than a recharge-frequency requirement.
BSNL Recharge: Bharat Fibre users get an OTT choice
Alongside the insurance-linked plans, BSNL announced a change for its fibre-to-the-home customers. Bharat Fibre customers can choose their preferred OTT applications from more than 25 platforms, including Disney+ Hotstar, SonyLIV, ZEE5 and several regional entertainment apps. The service runs through BSNL’s CinemaPlus portal. The selection can be changed every month. BSNL said this means users no longer depend on fixed OTT bundles.
CinemaPlus is not new. It is a rebranded version of YuppTV Scope, a partnership between YuppTV and BSNL that began in 2021.
