Buying a SIM card was once a very tiring process. It used to take a long time and was sometimes quite tedious. This was the case when the competition was almost negligible and only a few players were on the market. In those days, not many people preferred to buy a cellphone as it was costly, and the tariffs were high too. But after the competition started rising and the mobile plans became affordable, the process to obtain a SIM card also became efficient. Nowadays, you can purchase SIM cards online from the comfort of your home.
All you need is an internet connection and proper documents for a SIM, and you can get a new SIM card shortly. In India, for instance, every telecommunications company has more or less the same procedure to buy a SIM card online. But you do need to remember whether your city has the capability. The online SIM delivery is available in all the metropolitan cities of the country and in a few other big cities too. In the following sections, you will get to know how to get a SIM card online and what are its benefits.
Procedure to purchase SIM cards online
As already discussed, the process to buy a SIM card may vary from company to company, but the basic criteria remain the same. Here are the common steps to be taken to buy your desired SIM card online.
- Visit the official website of the telecom company whose SIM card you want to purchase. You can also write the keywords in a Google search, such as “buy SIM card online”.
- Go to the website of the service provider and select the appropriate section where you can buy a SIM card.
- Choose the plan which you want to buy. You cannot buy one card without a plan.
- Enter your city’s postal code. At this step, the website will automatically tell you whether the SIM card is delivered to your city.
- If it accepts, fill out your details further like your address, name, a mobile number on which you could be contacted, and so on.
- Select a phone number of your choice out of the available options.
- After filling out the complete details, click on the Checkout or Submit or whatever button is available to complete the process.
- It will show you the time duration under which your SIM card will be delivered to your doorstep.
The same process applies whether you buy a postpaid plan or prepaid plan. You can pay online through your debit or credit card, as well as internet banking. The mode of payment slightly varies from carrier to carrier.
Benefits of an online purchase of SIM cards
Indeed, there are multiple upsides to buying a SIM card via the Internet. In today’s busy life, it could be hard for many people, especially in urban areas, to buy a SIM card from a local store. Here are some advantages of purchasing a SIM card online.
- Saves time: Buying SIM cards online saves a lot of time. It takes only a few minutes to complete the buying procedure online, which you can do from anywhere.
- Cost-effective: It conserves money on transport, as you don’t need to catch a bus or drive to the local store to buy the SIM card. Moreover, many local stores charge you the money for the SIM card itself. But when you buy online, you don’t need to pay anything for the physical SIM card.
- No disruption: People are already very busy with their work and daily tasks. You don’t need to ruin your schedule to visit a store to get a SIM card. You can do this in your free time—whenever you want.
- Hassle-free process: No need to wait in a long queue when you do it online. The delivery agent will deliver the SIM card to your doorstep and complete the registration process on the spot, taking a few minutes. This way, you will save yourself a lot of energy.
Dos and don’ts of buying a SIM card over the Internet
Because it is an online process, it is slightly different from the offline one. Here is a list of things you should do and avoid.
Required documents and price of SIMs
Keep your government-issued documents ready. It must contain your date of birth, address, and full name. It could be your driving license, passport, voter ID card, etc. The documents are required to perform the KYC (Know Your Customer) process on the spot when the delivery person arrives. Also, a normal SIM card is free, so don’t pay a charge regarding the SIM card unless it is a VIP SIM number you opted for. Moreover, there are usually no home delivery charges, you only pay for the plan. If some extra charges are requested, go through the service provider’s website to verify if it is legitimate.
Delivery of SIM
The SIM card is generally dispatched within 2 to 4 hours. And after the submission of all the documents and KYC completion, it takes another few hours to get the SIM active. If it takes longer than that, reach out to the service provider. Once you order the SIM card, you can track the delivery on the service provider’s website. Make sure you are available when the delivery agent is about to arrive at your address. Nobody else can take your SIM delivery except you. As per the latest rules, a live photograph of you will be taken at the time of delivery and your signature will be required as well.
Buying a SIM card online is a new trend, so it is not available in every city, country, or region. For now, only select cities have this service available. In the future, more places worldwide will be covered under this service. Home delivery of SIM cards is a new way to sell the SIM cards by the providers letting them grow their customer base quickly.