Today, Paytm- the leading payment gateway company enables UPI recharge for feature phone users. At their official blog, they mention that We are happy to share that millions of Indians using feature phones will now be able to recharge for their Vodafone Idea numbers with just a valid UPI ID.

https://blog.paytm.com/heres-how-feature-phone-users-can-now-recharge-their-vodafone-idea-number-within-a-few-minutes-5d82078f948c

Along with the telecom major Vodafone Idea, Paytm also partnered with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to extend this service throughout the country. This step would be a great help for millions of citizens who use feature phones and for recharging have to go to physical stores. Now they can recharge their phones by themselves.

The company further stated that this service is based on the NPCI’s innovative payment service *99# which works on the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) channel. It allows mobile banking transactions using basic feature phones without the need of having a mobile internet data facility for using USSD based banking.

How to recharge your Vodafone Idea number in a few simple steps!

A) If your UPI ID is already registered with BHIM UPI
– You simply need to dial USSD code — *99*1*3# (Your bank account number linked to mobile number through which USSD is dialed is detected)
– Next, enter your Paytm’s UPI ID, desired recharge amount, and finally, the UPI Pin to complete the transaction. Your recharge will be done within a few minutes!

B) In case, your UPI ID is not registered
– Dial *99#
– You will be shown all bank accounts linked with the mobile number from where the USSD is dialed in
– Select the bank account where you want to register your UPI ID and set up your UPI PIN
– To recharge your mobile, you need to again dial *99# and follow the procedure mentioned above in section A.

Paytm by this initiative wants millions of migrants who are away from home and have limited means, to stay connected with their families.