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Buying and using a sim card in India-A through guide for foreign travelers

While traveling to India, Oone may feel homesick and will definitely try to stay in touch with their family and friends as well. One may meet new travelers and want to contact them. Especially solo female travelers may feel a lot safer with a phone with hi-speed internet. Using the international roaming services can be way too much expensive. But you can skip all of these problems as we Car Rental Delhi will briefly guide you and will be more than happy to serve you at your needs.

Phone features

In most of the foreign countries, mobile phones are locked to the frequency of single service provider. So basically all you need to do is unlock your phone and use it in India. It’s better if you have a phone with dual sim features so that you can easily use one slot for the new prepaid sim. Most service providers at present provide micro-SIM cards in India.

Documentation you need to buy a new sim card:

The government of India has become strict with the sale of sim cards. However, with the aid of Car Rental Delhi, there will be no issue at all. Our drivers will guide you and for that purpose, we need the documents mentioned below:

• 2 color passport photos
• Photocopy of  Passport (1st page only) and Visa

Note: Remember to carry the originals for verification.

Where to buy?

On arrival to India, you can buy a sim card from Airport mobile service stores itself but it will cost you minimum 1000 INR. So it is better to buy from cell phone vendors in the city with the help of our driver, where you can get a prepaid sim at 40-50 INR only which is almost free of charge and furthermore you can recharge at your own will. But our drivers are very reliable they will help you in every nook and corner. You just need to keep the required documentation handy. Once the documents are verified, you will be handed over with the sim with the 10-digit phone number. Usually, it takes a couple of hours to get activated after a confirmation call where you need to confirm your application details. If you are an avid traveler in India you must activate roaming package services available on your device or else you have to buy separate sim card in every state that you visit.

Which one to buy?

Airtel, Vodafone, BSNL, JIO, and Idea are the most popular mobile service providers in India. BUT CAR RENTAL DELHI highly recommend for AIRTEL because of good network connection all over India.

In terms of price, the packages are more or less similar. For metropolitan cities, Airtel & Vodafone are good options whereas BSNL is best suited for rural areas.

Most Prepaid Sims provide free incoming message and call package whereas the outgoing options may vary accordingly as follows.

• International calls Rs.7/min.
• International text messages Rs.5/message.
• Local calls Re.1/min.
• Local text message Re.1/message.

3G and 4G packages are also available.

How to make a call to other numbers?

Depending on the places you are calling, you might need to add prefix i.e. a country code or area code when you are making a call from your phone.

• For international calls – country code+ area code+ phone number
• For local fixed telephone- city/area code+ phone number
• For local mobile phone- 10-digit number without any prefix
• For other states -0+10-digit number

Note: If you are unsure while making calls in India, just prefix “+91” followed by the 10-digit mobile number.