The Department of Telecom, commonly referred to as DoT, has announced that it is making some changes to the mobile plan conversion process from prepaid to postpaid and vice versa. In a directive dated June 10, 2025, the authority said it is drastically reducing the cooldown period, allowing users to convert their mobile plan from prepaid to postpaid or postpaid to prepaid in just 30 days for the first time. The new directive changes a previous order issued on September 21, 2021, which had locked the transition period to 90 days. 📱 Switching between Prepaid ↔️ Postpaid got easier through OTP! ⏱️ Cooling-off period for first-time reconversion reduced from 90 days to 30 days. 🔁 Need to switch sooner? Use KYC at PoS or authorized outlets! pic.twitter.com/kWbPcGsanZ — DoT India (@DoT_India) June 12, 2025 Previously, Airtel, BSNL, Reliance Jio, and Vodafone Idea users had to wait for 90 days for the conversion of their mobile plans. However, for any following OTP-based conversions, the cool-off period will remain 90 days. But in case a subscriber "wishes to re-convert within the lock-in period of 30 days or 90 days (as the case may be), they may still do so by following the extant KYC process at PoS or authorised outlets of the licensees." This means that customers will have to visit the network operator's outlet to change their SIM from prepaid to postpaid or vice versa. The Department of Telecom has also asked network operators that subscribers be clearly informed about the lock-in period every time they convert from prepaid to postpaid or postpaid to prepaid. However, all other security and regulatory requirements will remain unchanged. To give you a quick recap, switching from prepaid to a postpaid connection requires customers to initiate the conversion process from the network provider's website, app or by visiting a customer service centre. The process usually requires users to fill out a form and submit KYC documents.
