r/fuckairtel

My physical SIM was deactivated due to a technical glitch in the Airtel Thanks app during an eSIM upgrade. I went to the airtel store in Hyderabad. The airtel employee explicitly told me the app eSIM process is broken and they don't allow customers to do it themselves.

The number is registered to my brother, who is currently in the US. The employee took my brother's NRI documents via WhatsApp to process a manual SIM replacement.

He charged me ₹1699 for this new physical SIM (I was stressed about losing my number so paid him quickly without thinking much, it was only few days later when I researched about it and learned that the cost for new Sim is usually 50-200 rupees).

It took 7 to 8 days to get a working sim, but the network finally activated and I can make calls and use mobile data now.

My questions:

Is ₹1699 the official Airtel fee for processing a manual NRI SIM replacement, or did this employee pocket the money? I read the official cost is ₹50.

What is the exact escalation path to report this specific employee for extortion and get a refund? The 198/121 IVR bots are useless for store-level complaints.

Please do share what I should do next?

Wanted to share my recent experience with Airtel Fiber because the entire process was unnecessarily complicated and confusing.

I already had an Airtel Xstream Fiber connection in Nagpur on the 300 Mbps plan. Around February 2026, I decided to upgrade to the 1 Gbps plan along with a static IP.

The upgrade request was raised successfully, but after that, nothing really moved.

For the next several weeks:

- the order remained stuck in pending,

- support teams kept giving inconsistent answers,

- and no one could clearly explain whether the issue was technical, operational, or backend-related.

The most common response I received from local ground staff and support executives was that 1 Gbps was not available for residential customers in Nagpur. Even though the website and app said 1 Gbps option from the beginning.

What made the situation even more confusing was that during the initial days after my fiber installation, I had actually received speeds close to 1 Gbps despite officially being on the 300 Mbps plan. This clearly suggested that:

- the ONT/router was capable,

- the fiber infrastructure was capable,

- and some form of gigabit provisioning had already worked on the same connection earlier.

After that initial period, speeds dropped back to ~300 Mbps and stayed there.

Since nobody was providing a proper explanation, I started escalating the matter through emails. I repeatedly asked Airtel to clarify whether the issue was related to:

- OLT capacity,

- backend provisioning,

- port allocation,

- feasibility locking,

- or any actual infrastructure limitation.

Unfortunately, most responses were generic template replies or callback assurances that never materialized.

At one point, support promised that I would receive a callback within 4 hours regarding the upgrade request. Nobody contacted me.

I then escalated the issue further through appellate/escalation channels and also made a Reddit post describing the situation. After that, I was contacted by someone from Airtel’s social media escalation team who asked for the DSL/fixed-line ID and details of the issue so it could be reviewed internally.

Only after all these escalations did the request finally start moving.

The connection has now been successfully upgraded to:

- 1 Gbps Airtel Fiber

- Static IP enabled

- same connection,

- same infrastructure,

- same location,

- no hardware changes.

Which is why I still genuinely want to understand what the actual issue was.

If the upgrade was ultimately possible on the exact same setup, then:

- why was the order pending for so long?

- why was incorrect information repeatedly communicated about 1 Gbps availability in Nagpur?

- and why did such a straightforward plan upgrade require this level of escalation?

Overall, I’m happy that the issue is finally resolved, but the process definitely shouldn’t have been this difficult and frustrating for an existing fiber customer simply trying to upgrade their plan.

Posting this in case anyone else is facing similar “not feasible” responses from Airtel regarding gigabit upgrades.

P.S. would highly recommend finding your relevant appellate authority email and directly connecting with them. The 121 email is practically useless, just send a formal email there for a paper trail.

Note: Used AI for formatting.

I was told by the airtel wifi salesman that I would be given with unlimited 5g and all other DTH channels but is not . When i am seeing the the channels there are many Sony channels , cartoon channels are missing.I saw that there was a limit of 1000 gb of net. If there is a limit then what is the meaning of taking wifi . I feel that i was scammed . I c alled them and told them to take the wifi + dth setup back .I don't know how many of u have faced this problem.The salesman is a brainwasher.I called JIO fibre but a salesman came from airtel wifi . It is very disgusting. Don't take wifi or any other service from airtel.

guys where tf is add on data, my data just got over and i cant find add on data, like how much more does airtel exploite people, increase plan tariffs, now remove add ons too, are we supposed to just keep on buying plans until we burn our pockets, like bloody 1000rs for 3 months, on top of that no add ons too, fucking outrageous

Hey everyone,

I’ve been on a 200Mbps broadband plan for about a year now, but I’ve been facing two really annoying issues lately:

1. Images won't load: High-res photos on apps like Myntra, Ajio, Zepto, and Big Basket just refuse to load while on Wi-Fi. The moment I switch to mobile data, they load instantly.

2. UPI payments fail: Whenever I try to make a UPI payment while connected to Wi-Fi, it just screens and buffers forever. I always have to disconnect and use my mobile carrier network to get the payment through. It’s definitely not a speed issue (speed tests are fine), but feels like some weird routing, DNS, or IPv6 block.

Has anyone faced this similar issue with their ISP? How did you fix it? TIA

Raised wifi issue at 10pm. The app tried its usual fixes but I mentioned that speed issue still there. Next customer care connected and explained network not coming in other rooms.

They sent engineer at 11am in the morning. Told engineer the same thing that router network not able to reach in other rooms. He acknowledged and created a free relocation request at same address. Then came an otp after 1 hour for the request. Shared otp with the engineer and he replaced the old black router with the new Wifi 6 white one.

https://preview.redd.it/dh4zhqjaw22h1.png?width=3836&format=png&auto=webp&s=6dfad5f22e03449f81607ac28f8e7e1fe4c6642c

Old Vodafone RedX or Airtel Black days back ???

TRAI Net Neutrality ???

Jio Soon, We are going through same things that other countries went.... See Parag Kar view in this topic for more info

Hi everyone,

I have an Airtel Xstream IPTV box running Android 14 with the September 2025 security patch. I want to use it more like a regular Android TV device and remove/disable as many Airtel apps and background services as possible using ADB.

I’m looking for:

Safe Airtel package names to disable/uninstall

ADB commands that still work on the latest patch

Methods to stop Airtel apps from auto-starting

So many networks crowding up the frequencies with their useless advertising attempts. It’s always a chore to find the right network when everything looks the same. Cannot pattern recognise a name at all!

Both Jio and Airtel are culprits here. But atleast on Jio I think you can rename the network to not say Jio.

Airtel does everything but fix their shitty service.

So back in October 2025, I paid around ₹2500 for an Airtel Black connection for 3 months. By mid-January 2026, the plan expired and I decided not to recharge again due to poor service quality and terrible customer care.

Now in May 2026, I received a message saying that Ekart Logistics would come to pick up the Airtel Black setup box. I didn’t have any issue with that since I wasn’t using the connection anymore.

Here’s where the mess happened.

On Sunday (17th May), I also had a Tata Cliq return pickup scheduled for a T-shirt that was larger in size. I wasn’t at home at the time. The Ekart guy came for the Airtel setup box pickup, but one of my family members, unaware of which pickup it was, mistakenly handed over the Tata Cliq T-shirt package instead.

The frustrating part is that the Ekart delivery guy didn’t even bother checking whether the correct item/package was being handed over. I understand it was partly our mistake too, but isn’t it also the pickup agent’s responsibility to verify the item before accepting it?

Then today (18th May), the actual Tata Cliq pickup person came for the T-shirt, and that’s when we realized the mix-up.

Now when I check the Ekart tracking ID for the Airtel pickup, it only shows “Picked Up” and there’s no proper contact information available for Ekart support. I’m genuinely confused and worried about what to do next.

I’m posting this in the Airtel sub because the Ekart pickup was arranged by Airtel. Has anyone faced something similar before? Any idea how I can contact Ekart or recover the package before it gets lost?

I’m a CSE undergrad currently using Airtel’s basic ₹349 plan, which promises unlimited 5G, but in reality we all know it has a 300GB FUP limit. I try to manage my usage to around 10GB per day, but sometimes it exceeds that, and Airtel instantly stops the unlimited 5G benefit.

Other than that, Airtel provides very solid 5G coverage in my city. Because of the data restriction issue, I’m planning to port to Jio as I need to wait for next recharge to get 5g everytime I exceed and it's irritating....

What would you suggest in this situation? Also, if I experience poor network coverage after porting to Jio, can I raise a network complaint/request to them, and do they actually help improve it?