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Hell NO. Most of the time voice call is very poor quality. There is no bsnl 5g. Most of the time it is 3g. 4g is patchy with slow speeds.

If you want to keep it for otp and incoming calls, go for jio. It is the only operator giving free incoming calls and sms without any recharge. Just recharge once every 3-4 months with a bare minimum pack which will cost you 189. I ported to bsnl and instantly regretted it.

I am not from Mumbai. I stayed in Mumbai last year for 1 week, and the experience with BSNL was terrible.
I think they don't have direct coverage, instead use roaming on some other networks. Had to go to the hotel's(Novotel near the airport) top floor to receive OTPs. Travelled mostly through tourist spots, still the service was bad.

Get JIO sire!
and abhi to offer bhi hai

Get Jio. In my experience, jio is the best everywhere in mumbai except vile parle west

This is what i do
Airtel - work sim, 979/84 days
Jio - aadhar, banks, CC, 1748/336 days (only calls & SMS)

I prefer to keep different network sim. So, ideally you should have one airtel, another jio or vi. Personal preference VI. As this would be ur secondary (data) sim so 2.0 recharge instead of 3.5 would be good enough.

I manage recharge of my family members too. 2 Jio, 2 Vi, & 2 Airtel. I hate jio the most, even though I am posting this post using jio data.

If incoming SMS is all you need then BSNL is good option. In Mumbai, network was managed by MTNL which hasn't invested much. If you can manage get a sim from not Mumbai area like Pune as BSNL plans for Maharashtra will be applicable on that sim. Then use the folowwing plan.

Rs. 1198 = 3GB Data + 300 Mins calls + 30 SMS given every month for 365 days. Unused benefits/freebies exhaust every month.

Currently this plan is not available for Mumbai sim and only few are given to MTNL customers. Rest network is now being managed by BSNL for MTNL and it is bot that good. But for incoming SMS/SIM verification, 2G/3G network is workable.

@desiviru I am facing OTP issue with BSNL. I am not getting IndusInd bank OTP ( getting all other OTP except bank OTP) in BSNL number but getting OTP in Jio number for family member's IndusInd credit card.
BSNL customer care executive told me to maintain minimum 10 Rs main account balance. But after few days facing the same issue. Have you faced these issues?

@raavani already have jio on primary phone and I couldn't find 1748 for 336 days plan anyways.

And it seem bsnl is shit.. so only jio with calling is my only option. But I can't find a plan may be if I port then only new plan show up? I checked on amazon for plans.

@vaibhav111 1748 is under value plan maybe. Can't be recharged from elsewhere other than jio app or web.
Prefer with some data at 1900+ instead.

@vaibhav111 do on myjio app
Third party apps don't have 1748 recharge.

@Deepak_Shetty Bro many people have reported this otp not coming especially on port-in numbers. Resolution is first change number in bank to any other number and then back to BSNL number. Personally I haven't faced issue with portin numbers not receiving otp from banks as on my numbers I receive it without any problem.

If it is ported in same circle then issue is less while inter-state this issue is more.

For incoming call can I recharge with 10rs talk time so I can also port to jio.

incoming calls are free in jio
10rs talktime is useless. (for any purpose incoming or outgoing)

@vaibhav111 Yes port to Jio and in top up keep balance above Rs.20 if you dont want sim to be deactivated by them in 90 days of not recharging. Although this balance is useless but your sim wont be deactivated. Also top-up recharge can be done if validity is there. So before your FRC expires, top up with Rs.50. In my idle sims I have kept 100 TopUp and Rs.81.75 balanceis there in 2 sims.

Most of the sim deactivated by Jio had no balance. Actually as per TRAI, a telco can not deavctivate a sim if Rs.20 or more balance is there. Although if they want they can deduct Rs.20 every 30 days to extend sim. But with Jio/Airtel/Vi sims I have they haven't deducted any amount and sims are alive from more than 3 years of no recharge.

If no balance, they will deactivate sim permanently. Also all these sim should come in network for 3 days minimum in 60 days time to remain active. Toh sim zinda rakhna hai toh follow this.

CC: @kuchbhi

my one sim not recharged since the last price hike 🙂

and before it, it was not recharged for 1 yr at least

but ya if keeping lil balance saves it from dying permanently then no harm in keeping

@vaibhav111 @kuchbhi @2025 https://www.trai.gov.in/sites/default/files/2024-09/TRAI_Handbook_2018_Eng.pdf

itna nahi padh paunga
jo apne kaha use hi believe kar leta hun