Airtel Value Added Services – Start, Stop and Info Guide

Airtel provides its subscribers with a long list of services that extends the usage of the SIM and network, from just messaging, calling and browsing of internet. These are the Value Added Services, and Airtel lately has launched a service called “Airtel Start-Stop Service” which helps in activating and deactivating any of the value added service. This service can be done by sending an SMS to a toll free number 121.

Contents in the guide:

List of Value Added Services
Mobile Number Portability
How to subscribe to VAS
How to unsubscribe from a VAS

List of Value Added Services

Here are the various Value added services that I could identify and check with Airtel, and which have a different tariff for each –

Jobs – Job Alerts – It is a job alerts service for mobiles. Jobs are based on your profile & get daily jobs alerts. Jobs powered by Naukri.com, Monster.com & clickjob.com. It costs Rs. 5 for 5 days. To activate, you need to dial *321*661#
Astrology On Demand (Horoscope) – This portal is where a subscriber can listen to predictions based on his horoscope numerology and listen to Panchang. It costs Rs. 30 per month, and you get the horoscope daily through SMS. To activate, you need to dial 54314.
Airtel Talkies – Airtel Talkies is the multiplex cinema on the move. Complete anytime anywhere cinema entertainment with original movie content, dialogues, storyline and song clips. Its a collection of New Releases, Super hit and Classical movies at one place. A Power packed cinema entertainment. It costs Rs.30 per month for 4 movies, 30 days validity. To activate the service, you need to dial 51010.
Hello Tunes (HT) – Hello Tunes is what we call as Caller tunes in other networks too, and is a service that lets your callers hear your favorite tune when they call you, and before you lift the call. The hello tunes could be specifically set for dedicated people, or you can gift that to others by paying the charge yourself. The subscription charge for a Hello tune is Rs. 30 per month, and to select a song or change it, the charge is Rs. 15. You need to call 543211 to set up a hello tune, and the cost for calling is Rs. 3 per minute. Check how to setup Airtel Hello Tune.
Airtel Radio – The Airtel radio service is one where everyone can hear their favorite songs all the time, with a monthly subscription of Rs. 30. There are over 20000 songs in the list, spread in around 17 languages. To activate the Airtel Radio service, you need to call 543213.
Friendz Chat – The Friends chat helps you chat with people about whom you know a little, and you can make new friends. You get registered with a 2-digit ID, and for that you need to call 51010. The charges for Friend chat is Rs. 30 per month, and the call charges for subscribing is Rs. 2 per minute.
Cricket updates – The Cricket packs come in different plans as and when the various tournaments are taking place. And you would get notified about it by Airtel, and there is no specific subscribing option for that.
Jokes – Download latest jokes from your Airtel Menu. Choose from a variety of jokes on offer- such as office jokes, spouse jokes, college jokes and jokes at random. The pricing varies from Rs. 1 per day to more, depending on the packages.
Devotional services – The services that I knew and got information about, was the Quran service where the quotes are sent per day, charging Rs. 1 per day.
Shayaris – Get different types of Shayaris on the mobile, once per day and this would be costing you Rs. 1 per day.
Matrimonial – This service helps you find a match, with their matrimonial search. The matches are sent to your inbox daily based on your profile. The service costs Rs. 5 for 5 days. To activate or deactivate the service, you need to dial *321*11#
Voice SMS – This service helps you send a recorded voice to anyone you wanted to leave a message for. The recording can be done for 30 seconds, and you just need to press * before the number and dial it. The message can be recorded after the beep and it runs for 30 seconds. The Voice SMS costs Rs. 0.75 for a message. Replying to it or forwarding the voice SMS costs Rs. 0.75.
Night Radio – Night Radio offers music services across various channels at discounted rates at night (10.00 PM to 6.00 AM). The charges for this are Rs.15 per Month, and you need to dial 55170 to subscribe to this service.
Missed Call Alert – Get updates of all calls you miss if your phone is switched off or you are unreachable. Next time someone tries to call you while you away you will receive a SMS notification as soon as you are back in the coverage area, or when you switch on your phone. The charges for subscribing to the Missed call alert service is Rs. 15 per month. To activate SMS MCA to 56789 or Dial *321*881# (toll Free) and to deactivate SMS DMCA to 56789 or dial 321*883#(toll free).
Speak English – This is a service that helps you learn Spoken English, and which is made based on the Indian users context. The charges for this service are Rs. 5 for 10 days, and you need to dial 543212050 to subscribe to it. The charges for subscription call is Rs. 1 per minute.
Audio Cinema – This is just like a radio service, where you can hear to movies and can run forward or go rewind. This service costs Rs. 30 per month, in which you can hear to the Audio of any movie for a total of 60 seconds. To subscribe to this service, you need to dial 505999555 and this is a toll-free call.
Live Aarti on Mobile – You can hear to the live Aarti being sung at the 2 shrines – Tirupati and Siddivinayaka. The charges for this is Rs. 5 per Aarti, at any one shrine. The cost increases by folds per addition of shrine and the count of Aartis. You can subscribe to this service by dialing the toll free number 55200.
Astro Live – This is a special service where some qualified astrologers tell you about your present and future in Love, Money, Career, Property, Children etc. The service costs Rs. 9 per minute.
Special 5 – Using this service, you can be connected to 5 closest friends whom you call most frequently. Instead of the normal call charges, the charge for local call to these numbers is 20 paise per minute, and STD is 50 paise per minute. But to use this service, you would be charged 20 ps per day per number if it’s a local one, or 50 ps per day per number if it is an STD number. You need to call 12141 for the subscription and more info about it.
Voice search and requests – In this, you can call 543212 and speak out your requests and searches. You can download ringtones, dedicate songs, check cricket scores etc. The charges for calling to this services is Rs. 6 per minute.

The other Value added services by Airtel include Love Bites, Beauty Tips, Good Morning Alerts, Friendship Message, Filmi Gossip, Stock Alerts, Love Tips, Bharat Matrimony (WAP) and Portfolio Manager (WAP).

Mobile Number Portability

The other service that every network has lately got a chance to pull subscribers towards them, is the Mobile Number Portability. By using this, you can retain the same phone number as you are using, but can shift between the network providers if you wanted to. Here is how to shift to Airtel with the Mobile Number Portability feature –

Firstly, you need to generate the Unique Porting Code i.e. the UPC. This can be done by sending an SMS as “PORT MOBILENO.” e.g. “PORT 922xxxx22x” to 1900. UPC is the code that is provided by the network provider, upon request, to help in porting the number to any other network operator where this code is recognized by both the network operators.
Once you send the SMS, you get the UPC code in a 8-digit format, along with the date of expiry of the code which comes in a MM/DD/YYYY format. You can use that code within that time to make any shift between the network operators.
Now, after receiving the code you need to visit your nearest Airtel outlet and fill a form for the MNP. The details that are to be filled in, include Current Mobile Number, Current Operator name and UPC code.
Along with the MNP form, you need to submit the Address proof, ID proof documents, self-attested photo and the last bill of the postpaid connection if you are running on a postpaid plan.
Purchase the Airtel MNP SIM card from the Airtel outlet, and once you are done with this, Airtel would send you an SMS to your previous SIM number stating an approximate date around which you may get shifted from the other network provider to Airtel and till when you can continue using the current operator.
During the porting process, the SIM would enter a no-service period of 2 hours, that occurs usually during nights at around 12 a.m. to 5 a.m. when the activity of the phones is least. Once you pass through the no-service period, it is confirmed that the MNP has been done and you can start using the new SIM with the same number on Airtel network.

Subscribing to a Value Added Service (VAS)

The Start-Stop service by Airtel, is where you can either subscribe or unsubscribe from the Value added services of Airtel. Airtel customers can SMS ‘Start’ or ‘Stop’ to 121 (toll free). An SMS is sent acknowledging customer’s request & advises them of the next step. If the customer sends ‘Start’ to 121, then the service checks for all the subscription services not subscribed by the customer & presents those services through an easy to understand & interactive menu.

Apart from this, when Airtel sends you promotional SMS about their VAS, you get separate phone numbers or codes to use to directly activate that particular service rather than browsing through the entire list and searching for the one you wanted to subscribe to. Most of the services are activated instantly, but if they take time, Airtel usually sends an SMS with the notification when it is activated after a few hours.

Unsubscribing to a Value Added Service (VAS)

To stop a Value added service, you need to send ‘Stop’ to 121. Sending this SMS and unsubscribing doesn’t cost anything, and this is a tool free number. By sending the SMS, you would be getting an SMS with the list of Value added services you are subscribed to. You can select which one you need to unsubscribe from.

For many Value added services, here is a list of codes from which you can directly use and do the deactivation –

AirTel Hello Tune: To Unsubscribe dial 543211808 & and follow IVRS OR Dial *678# select option manage your profile.
AirTel Astrology: To Unsubscribe to the Astrology Alerts, send UNSUB followed by first 3 letters of the zodiac sign & send it to 54321.
AirTel News: To Unsubscribe to the News Alerts, send UNSUB NEWS to 54321.
AirTel Joke Alert: To Unsubscribe to The Joke Alerts, send UNSUB JOKE to 54321.
AirTel Business News Alerts :To Unsubscribe to the Business News alerts, send UNSUB BIZ to 54321.
AirTel Health Alerts: To Unsubscribe to Health Tip alerts send UNSUB HEAL to 54321.
AirTel Film Gossip: To Unsubscribe to the Film gossip alerts, send UNSUB FILM to 54321.
Airtel Vaastu Alerts :To Unsubscribe to the Vaastu alerts, send UNSUB VAASTU to 54321.
Airtel Love Alerts:To Unsubscribe to the Daily Love alerts, send UNSUB LOVE to 54321.
Airtel Sports & News alerts:To Unsubscribe to sports news alerts , send UNSUB SPO to 54321

Here are a couple codes that you need to call a certain VAS in Airtel –
TO DEACTIVATE MCA SERVICE IN AIRTEL DIAL *321*883#
TO ACTIVATE MCA SERVICE IN AIRTEL DIAL *321*882#

Check out our guide on the Manual gprs settings for Airtel subscribers.

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