SIM card delivery in minutes: Bharti’s new service

Details: Vaughan O'Grady; Category: Operators; 15 April 2025; 4593 views

In an interesting alliance of mobile communications and e-commerce, Indian operator Bharti Airtel has announced a partnership with the platform Blinkit, one of the largest e-grocery companies in India, for the delivery of SIM cards to its customers within ten minutes.

It's a reminder that the Indian market remains highly competitive, not least because Bharti is keen to point out that this is a first-of-its-kind service by an operator. The service is now live in 16 cities in the country, with plans to add more cities and towns over a period of time.

The guarantee is that customers can indeed receive SIM cards at their doorstep in a minimal ten minutes, though there is what is called a nominal convenience fee of INR49 (about US$0.57).

After the SIM card arrives, customers can activate their number using a simple activation process. Customers will have the option to choose from both postpaid and prepaid plans or trigger mobile number portability (MNP) for porting into the Airtel network. To streamline the process, customers can access an online link and view an activation video for a seamless activation experience.

After the 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.

In the initial phase of this launch, the SIM delivery service will be 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.