Amidst Vodafone-Idea merger talks, Vodafone is still pretty much motivated to offer interesting tariffs to its customers. The newest feature the company has rolled out, right now only to West Bengal users, is the ability to get a mobile recharge without giving out the number.
Launched as a Private Recharge Mode, the new feature will allow users to maintain the secrecy of their phone number so that they are not misused for other purposes. This offer is being rolled out to only West Bengal users, and the company has not announced any plans to roll it out nationally.
Arvinder Singh Sachdev- Business Head, Kolkata & West Bengal Circle talked about this, “The world is going Digital at a breakneck pace. With smartphones becoming the single most important storehouse of information, ensuring the privacy of subscribers by keeping their phone numbers private and protected, has gained paramount importance. As West Bengal’s most preferred telecom service provider, Vodafone is happy to bring one more path-breaking service that will make our customers feel more secure and empowered, enabling them to stay connected through their mobile phone 24×7 without concerns. Vodafone Private Recharge, a free of cost service, is a significant step in that direction.”
A lot of times users start receiving illicit messages and advertisements in case they give out their numbers for recharge. The company wants to maintain privacy even though the ‘Do not disturb’ registry is switched on.
How to recharge your phone privately?
For all West Bengal users in Vodafone, to avail this private recharge option, a customer needs to send a toll free SMS ‘Private’ to 12604(toll-free). The user receives an OTP that can be used for subsequent recharges till midnight of the same day.
To avail this OTP, the customer can go to a multi-brand retail outlet and just share the OTP instead of the mobile number with the retailer. Unfortunately, the same cannot be done online, which anyway is more secure than sharing your number with strangers.
Airtel also needs to introduce this rapidly in other circles because it is extremely convenient for people to get their accounts recharged without giving out the details. This can also be extended to recharge of mobile wallets and mobile bill payments in the near future.
