Explained: Airtel's cashback offer on smartphones to counter JioPhone Next

Bharti Airtel on October 8 announced a cashback offer on select smartphones. Part of the telecom operator’s ‘Mera Pehla Smartphone program’, the cashback offer reduces the effective ownership cost of eligible smartphones in a long run. Here are the details of the Airtel’s cashback offer on smartphones to counter JioPhone Next.

Airtel cashback offer on smartphones

Airtel is offering a cashback of Rs 6,000 to customers who purchase a new smartphone priced up to Rs 12,000 from eligible brands. According to Airtel, there are over 150 smartphones eligible for this scheme, and more would be added in future. The list covers most brands such as Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme, Nokia, Lava, etc. catering in the India’s budget smartphone market. Below is a full list of brands currently offering smartphones with Airtel’s Rs 6,000 cashback offer:

• Samsung
• Xiaomi
• OPPO
• Realme
• Vivo
• Nokia
• Lava
• Lenovo
• Itel
• Infinix
• Tecno
• Motorola

Click here to check the full list of eligible smartphones.

To avail the Rs 6,000 cashback benefit, customer needs to buy an eligible smartphone from Airtel and use it with the Airtel SIM only for a period of 36 months. The cashback offer is currently limited to prepaid customers, and can be availed in two installments -- the first installment of Rs 2,000 after 18 months and the remaining Rs 4,000 after 36 months. The cashback amount would be transferred to Airtel Payments Bank account of the user.

To receive the cashback, customer need to recharge with an Airtel prepaid pack of Rs 249 or above continuously (as per pack validity) for 36 months. Important to note, customers need to recharge within 24 hours of validity expiry of recharge plan to get the cashback. The cashback offer stands cancelled if customer changes the phone or does not recharge in the stipulated time period.

Aside from cashback, Airtel is offering one-time free screen replacement of eligible smartphones in partnership with Servify. This offers an additional cost benefit of up to Rs 4,800 (estimated cost of screen replacement for a Rs 12,000 smartphone). Once customer is on an eligible recharge pack, the screen replacement enrolment can be done on Airtel Thanks App within 90 days period.