Bad news for Sunil Mittal as DoT blocks Blinkit-Airtel SIM home delivery due to…, telcos asked to abide by…

In a setback to billionaire Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has put on hold Airtel’s SIM home delivery, dealing a severe blow to the expansion plans of India’s second-largest telecom provider. Citing sources, a PTI report said the decision came after the telecom department queried Airtel on the process being followed and made it clear that stipulated norms have to be complied with.

DoT puts quick SIM delivery on hold

The order came days after Airtel– the country’s second-largest telecom provider– had launched the service in collaboration with quick commerce platform, Blinkit, with much fanfare. A person privy to the development said that the service has been “put on hold, not discontinued”, the report said.

Social media users pointed out that the query “Airtel SIM” returned no results on the Blinkit app, while some took potshots at how soon the service was discontinued before it could make an impact. “Tried ordering an Airtel SIM via Blinkit. By the time I blinked… the service was discontinued,” one user posted on X.

As per the PTI  report, DoT had recently sent a mail telecom service providers, saying “the existing self-KYC process, as per the extant instructions, shall be followed scrupulously.”

The report said that Airtel and Blinkit have not issued any official response addressing the development, and emails sent to both companies, seeking comments on the status of the launch announcement and whether or not the same have been discontinued, did not elicit any response.

Airtel-Blinkit launch 10-minute delivery of SIM cards

Earlier this month, Sunil Miital-owned Bharti Airtel had partnered with quick commerce giant Blinkit to deliver SIM cards to its customers within ten minutes. The service, which was launched on April 15, was initially available across 16 major cities, including metropolises such as Delhi, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Sonipat, Ahmedabad, Surat, Chennai, Bhopal, Indore, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Lucknow, Jaipur, Kolkata, and Hyderabad.

“This collaboration marks a significant milestone enabling, as it does, customers to receive SIM cards at their doorstep in a minimal 10 minutes at a nominal convenience fee of Rs 49,” a joint release by the two companies had said.

After the delivery of the SIM card, customers can activate the number using Aadhaar-based KYC authentication, as per stipulated process, it had informed at that time. The release that time had also said that customers will have the option to choose from both postpaid and prepaid plans or trigger a mobile number portability for porting into the Airtel network.

The release had explained that in order to streamline the process, customers can access the online link and view the activation video for a seamless activation experience. Additionally, for all such activations, Airtel customers have the option to access the help center through the Airtel Thanks App for any assistance, it had said.

Post-delivery of the SIM card, it will be mandatory for customers to activate the SIM within a 15-day window to ensure a smooth and hassle-free transition, the release earlier this month had said.

(With PTI inputs)

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