Google Search Enables Prepaid Mobile Recharge For Indian Users

Google now allows Indian users to recharge their prepaid mobile plans directly through Google Search. Google India on Tuesday announced its latest feature to help Indian mobile phone users recharge their prepaid mobile sim cards directly from the platform.

“In India, there are approximately 1.1 billion cellular connections, about 95 per cent of which are prepaid SIM cards. Prepaid cellular subscribers use a variety of ways to recharge their mobile phones, or even get help from a friend or a family member. Today, we make it easier for people in India to recharge prepaid SIMs with a new Google Search experience,” Google said in an official release.

Users can type in queries such as ‘prepaid mobile recharge’ and pay directly from Google’s new feature.

“Now, when you search for information on cellular recharging with queries like “prepaid mobile recharge”, you’ll be able to browse plans across several mobile carriers, compare discounts and offers, and recharge a prepaid phone plan using your favourite method,” the company explained in an article published on Google India’s official blog.

Users will be able to see the option on the search results page. From there, they would simply need to fill in their details including mobile number, phone operator and location. Google will then display a list of relevant plans from their phone operator.

Phone owners can select a preferred plan and pay digitally using third-party payment services. Currently, Google enables multiple payment options including Mobikwik, Paytm, FreeCharge and Google Pay. Users can also avail discountsand coupons as offered by these third-party services through the feature.

One can also select the option to purchase a preferred plan from their phone operator’s website or app.

The confirmation page for the recharge will also display relevant customer support information. Currently, the search feature is available only for Indian customers using Airtel, Vodafone-Idea, Jio or BSNL prepaid sim cards.

Telecom operators interested in tying up with Google for the service can sign up with the tech giant through its Google Adopters Program.

Multiple telecom companies including Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel had hiked tariffs by 15-41 per cent across all prepaid mobile plans in December 2019, according to previous reports.―The Hindu Business Line