JioPhone pre-bookings will resume post Diwali; company focussed on completing deliveries for 6 mn booked units

JioPhone bookings will resume after Diwali, once the company has completed the deliveries of the roughly 6 million units booked in August, according to a source. It was earlier reported that Jio aims to deliver all the units pre-booked in the first round by Diwali, which falls on 19 October this year.

A Reliance Retail channel partner told PTI that the second phase of JioPhone pre-booking will begin post-Diwali, likely from October-end or November first week. However, there is no concrete date yet. On the official website, the company only says, “We will inform you when [JioPhone> pre-booking resumes.”

About 6 million JioPhone   units were booked in a day and a half when the company opened bookings of the 4G feature phone for the public on 24 August in the first phase. Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani had announced that the 4G phone will be “effectively free” for users, but to prevent misuse of the scheme, JioPhone buyers will need to pay one-time fully refundable deposit of Rs 1,500.

The entire money will be refunded to the customer after usage of the phone for 36 months. However, there are several conditions applicable to get the refund. These include spending at least Rs 1,500 on recharges every year and actively using the handset. If the conditions are not met, it can ask the consumer to return the phone, forfeit the refund, and levy the applicable taxes.

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Under the conditions set by Jio for the users, handset buyers can get a refund of Rs 500 if they return the device in the first year, provided they have made recharge of Rs 1,500 during the year.

Similarly, on the return of the phone in the second year, the customer will get a refund of Rs 1,000 and in the third year, the entire amount of Rs 1,500 will be refunded.

Reliance Retail started delivery of JioPhones in small towns from Navratri festival. “The shipments started in metro cities from Saturday. The target is to complete all shipments around Diwali,” the channel partner said.

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