Recharge prepaid mobile online

If you have ever tried on recharging your pre-paid mobile online you must have come across lots of websites offering you recharge your mobile without taking any extra commission. Infact there are so many services that first timer would get confused. hence I decided to test few services and share my experience.

First, Try with your Mobile phone company

Most Operators directly or with a tie up with bank offers Online recharge facility. I tested Vodafone’s recharge facility which the provide in association with billdesk payment gateway.the services works nicely and my mobile was recharged in few seconds after transaction but the process of recharging is long and takes time - as you have to enter your details everytime you recharge, instead an option to register on site so that all details are saved should be given.Airtel is offering a innovative solution called M-check; which does away which need using a PC. instead you can recharge directly from your mobile, giving users the advantage of mobility.the only limitation is M-check only supports payment via credit card, so this service waste for students who’s talk-time finishes in middle of the night. However the process of recharging is user friendly.

State Owned operator, BSNL has recently launched its own online mobile recharge service for its prepaid customers. Sadly the service seems to be broken, as even after entering a valid mobile number. It report a error that number is not valid.  Idea has a Option given on its website but website cried “due to heavy traffic the facility is unavailable” - certainly not a reliable service.

With your Bank or credit card company

I tested recharing via ICICI netbanking service, which is integrated into Netbanking portal. very easy to use and user friendly. the money directly debited from your bank account but sometimes recharge does not happen even though money has been debited from your account.this happens rarely but it does happen. Citi Bank you call up their helpline and request for recharge but it has a limit of 5transaction per month, it feels like using a handicapped service.

Third Party Providers

There are couple of services operated by third party which offer also bill payment,TV recharge(mostly DTH) along with mobile recharge option. the best of the lot are oxicash and rechargeitnow. Oxicash is operated by a Oxigen Services a delhi based company.  both services are good but i did find oxicash better as rechargeitnow does not have airtel and bsnl recharge facility. also oxicash always runs some kind of promotion on their services which makes their services attractive. latest they have a Damakha offer in which they are offering free talk time and free sms.

Verdict

Go with Oxicash because it offers a complete e-wallet system for which you don’t even require a credit card, you can simply go to your nearest OxiCash Wallet outlet and purchase the pin. Also it support nearly all mobile operators including Bsnl and Airtel. Customer care is also Good, I called them to report a issue which was resolved within few minutes. And, their promotional offers act like icing on the cake.

This was my view, Please share your experiences?