Prepaid and Postpaid Recharge: A Complete Guide

07 February, 2023

Synopsis

• Telecom providers offer two mobile connection types — prepaid, where you pay upfront for usage, and postpaid, where you pay after using the service. 
• Prepaid plans come with limits on data, calls and SMS and require periodic recharges. 
• Postpaid plans offer flexibility with monthly billing cycles and typically no usage restrictions.

When you sign up for a mobile connections, telecom providers give you two options – you can choose from prepaid and postpaid connections.

A prepaid connection is one that you pay for before using the phone’s service, while a postpaid connection is one where you pay after you use the phone’s service. 

The prepaid process is known as ‘recharging’ and comes with certain limits on talk-time, data, and SMS usage. It is an excellent choice if you are on a budget and wish to limit your mobile and internet usage. 

A postpaid connection is an agreement or contract, that works like a utility bill, i.e., the telecom provider does not levy any limits or restrictions on usage. They simply send you an itemised bill based on your usage, which you must repay on or before a specific due date, per your billing cycle.

Prepaid plans

Prepaid plans require you to “recharge” your account before you can use the service. The recharges have varying prices as well as associated benefits and the customer has the liberty to choose any recharge option at the time of top up.

A prepaid recharge doesn’t last till eternity. They have a fixed expiry date, mostly 30 days from the date of recharge. Thus whenever you recharge, you have 30 days to consume all the associated benefits or allow them to lapse.

If you have consumed all the credit on a prepaid connection, the customer would have to recharge his/her account before being able to use the service again.

It has to be noted that some recharges expire in 28 days instead of 30 and thus the customer would end up recharging 13 times a year instead of 12.

In order to enhance value to the customer, prepaid plans come with an option to roll over data that the customer has left unused till expiry. Based on the prepaid plan you have subscribed to, the rolling over is allowed indefinitely or only for a certain period.

Some prepaid connections have long term expiry of 90, 180 or even 365 days.

Postpaid Plans

The main difference between prepaid and postpaid connections is that the latter are a form of agreement. Once you have chosen the plan, a customer with a postpaid mobile phone will receive a bill from the telecom company and have his plan benefits replenished automatically on every first day of a new billing cycle. Another way in which prepaid vs postpaid plans differ is that the latter can either be a SIM-only plan, which means that the customer only pays for the phone service or can get a mobile phone included with the plan.

The customer with a postpaid mobile connection would be allowed to keep using his service even if he uses up all his credit, either for an extra fees or with data at considerably lower speeds.

For Uninterrupted Phone Services, Use PayZapp to Recharge/Pay Bills

There are several ways one can recharge a prepaid or post paid connection. One way to do so, is through a payment app, such as PayZapp. HDFC Bank PayZapp is a complete payment solution which gives you the power to pay in just one click. With this, you also get a host of other benefits such as shop through your mobile at partner apps, purchasing movie tickets, groceries, compare and book flight tickets and hotels. You can also shop online and get great discounts at SmartBuy, send money to anyone in your contact list or to your bank account, pay bills and recharge your DTH and data card and many more.

So what are you waiting for? You can download Pay Zapp from the Apple App Store by clicking here. Download the PayZapp on the Android Play Store by clicking here.

​​​​​​​*Terms and conditions apply. The information provided in this article is generic in nature and for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for specific advice in your own circumstances.