JioPhone online and offline pre-booking starts today: When and how to book, Rs 500 security fee & all questions answered

JioPhone pre-booking will go live today evening. Reliance Jio chief – Mukesh Ambani announced “India ka smartphone” aka JioPhone at the company’s 40th annual general meet on July 21. The feature phone will be available at an effective price of zero, ie, effectively free. Soon after the announcement, Ambani also said that the phone can be pre-booked from both online and offline channels starting August 24, which is today. The pre-booking procedure is to start at 5:30PM today. Consumers will be able to book the 4G feature phone from either online or offline channels. The question is how to book and from where?

Jio has created a dedicated page for the same. Jio hasn’t been very vocal about the pre-booking process. All that they said is that the pre-booking process will start from August 24. Right ahead of the pre-booking process, the company has now revealed all details on how to book, where to book from, how much the consumers need to pay (the refundable security deposit) and more. So, if you are interested to book the JioPhone, here are all the details you should know.

When does the pre-booking process start?
The pre-booking process for JioPhone will start from 5:30 PM.

Will consumers who have signed in to “Registered Interest” be preferred?
No, they will not be preferred. The “Register Interest” is just another fancy terminology. So what is this Register interest? Jio started registering consumer interest on both online and offline a couple of days ago. Some media reports earlier mislead this process with pre-book. To get it right, the Register interest and pre-booking process are different. The “Register Interest” process was just for the company to check the demand for JioPhone and has nothing to do with pre-registration. People who have registered their interest for JioPhone will not be preferred. But, only advantage these consumers will have is that they will get posted about the stock availability, and all the details about JioPhone via message or email ID that they provided while registering their interest. It is noteworthy that Jio has now stopped the registering interest.

How to pre-book JioPhone online?
This is one big question that everyone is talking about. First, JioPhone can be pre-booked from both online and offline channels. For online, JioPhone can be pre-booked from two places – MyJio app and the company official website – Jio.com. The company has already created a dedicated page for the JioPhone pre-booking, which will go live at 5:30PM today.

How to book JioPhone offline?
For offline, the JioPhone can be booked from Jio retailers and multi-brand device retailers including the Reliance Digital stores network.

Will JioPhone be available on all offline stores?
No, not all Reliance Digital stores will be pre-booking JioPhone. Only the retailers who have upgraded to new JIO POS version will get the pre-booking vouchers. All retailers who have purchased Pre-booking vouchers will be eligible to take pre-booking request for JioPhone. So, to know if your nearest retailer has got the vouchers, you have o go to the store and enquire. It is noteworthy that, Jio will offer only 40 pre-booking vouchers to the eligible retailers today, so it a good idea to visit the store way ahead of the scheduled pre-booing time.

How much to pay?
JioPhone is “effectively free”. But then there’s a catch. Jio earlier said that the consumers will have to pay a refundable security amount of Rs 1500 while getting JioPhone. But now, people interested to book JioPhone for them will have to pay a sum of Rs 500 at the time of pre-booking. This, as the company claims, is to “avoid potential misuse.” The Rs 500 that the consumer will pay while pre-booking the phone will be adjusted at the time of delivery, confirms Jio. This means that the consumer needs to pay Rs 500 while pre-booking the JioPhone, and the rest of the security amount, which is — Rs 1000 can be paid at the time of delivery. After getting the JioPhone, you will have to subscribe to a Jio Plan. The monthly plans for the JioPhone will have a starting price of Rs 153. However, if you wish to take a plan cheaper than Rs 153. Jio has also introduced two sachets, which include — a weekly plan for Rs. 53 and a two day plan for Rs 23. These sachets also offer similar service like the Rs 153 plan — free and unlimited voice calls, free 4G data, access to Jio apps and more.

When will the phone get delivered?
Mukesh Amabni at the time of announcing the JioPhone said that the consumers will get access to JioPhone sometime around September. Some offline retails of Delhi NCR area have confirmed to India Today Tech that the phone will hit the stores around the first week of September. It likely that the retailer will update the consumer about the status of the order, and after the device is in stock the consumer will have to go to store personally to get the device. However, the deliver process of the offline channel hasn’t been confirmed by Jio as of yet. In case of online booking, the consumer will get the phone at their doorstep.

Documents you need to book JioPhone?
First thing to note is that anyone who doesn’t owe an Aadhaar card can’t book JioPhone. It is mandatory for the buyer to have a Aadhaar card. Apart from the Aadhaar details, the consumers will be required to provide some more details like – name, address, email ID, and phone number. After which, Jio it seems will provide the consumer with a token number with which they will be able to track their order.

Will JioPhone be available on first-come-first basis?
Jio has already confirmed that JioPhone will be available on first-come-first basis. Some offline retailers have also confirmed to India Today Tech that people who book the phone today will get preference. This is mostly because of the initial limited stock of JioPhone.