 "Reliance Jio")
Weeks after Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Jio Infocomm announced the commercial launch of its mobile broadband services, getting a SIM card has become a challenge in many parts of the country.
Small dealers that Business Standard spoke to claimed getting SIM cards was a challenge even for those who were selling the handsets bundled with the SIM card. In some cases, unauthorised dealers were also selling SIM cards for Rs 150 to Rs 400.
Since the service is free, consumers are willing to pay a premium for a Jio connection.
Ajeet, a local dealer in New Delhi, said for the past 10-15 days, there had been no supply of Jio SIMs. “Before September 5, we sold Jio connections with the LYF smartphones. We also sold SIM cards for Rs 150-200.”
He added that the colour of the boxes in which the SIMs came had changed from white to orange to blue, but now, there were no SIMs to sell.
Another dealer in the city said he had sold Jio SIMs for a premium but as the service activation was slow, he had to return the money to the customers.
A Reliance Jio spokesperson said there would be zero tolerance for unethical practices and strict action would be taken.
The spokesperson also said the company was doing all it could to meet the demand. “We are delighted and humbled with the unprecedented response.”
The Jio SIM cards are scarce thanks to the overwhelming response to the company’s welcome offer.
Till the commercial launch on 5 September, Jio was distributing connections through its retail network of 1,680 Reliance Retail and Digital Express stores.
However, over the past few days the company had identified 250,000 small distributors, who were also distributing SIM cards to customers. Dealers claimed they were not being given any commission and, as a result, were selling these for anything between Rs 150 and Rs 400.
A dealer in Bokaro, Jharkhand, Pradeep Kumar, said: “No commission is paid by Jio. It’s only what the customer pays for SIMs. After this free offer, Jio may also start paying commission like other operators. We have two-three months to make money. We tell the customers, there is no benefit in paying extra to us, but they want the SIMs.”
A spokesperson for Jio, however, said dealers were being given commissions according to industry standards.
Typically, dealers get a commission of Rs 50 per SIM card and a percentage for every recharge.
In the case of Jio, the situation is a little different as the company was not selling any SIM, nor would there be any recharge till January 2017. So, the dealers had little incentive to distribute the SIMs, and so, they were selling the cards.
Jitendra Nikam of Vaibhav Communications in suburban Mumbai said he had discontinued selling Jio SIM cards, as activation was a problem.
