Mobile subscribers across India were left frustrated on Monday evening as major telecom operators Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea experienced service disruptions within hours of one another. Users complained of difficulties making calls and accessing mobile data, with many voicing concerns on social media.
What Happened
Outage-tracking portal Downdetector recorded the first spike in complaints against Airtel around 4:30 pm, with over 3,600 reports originating largely from Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. By 5:30 pm, the number had fallen below 2,000 as services began returning to normal. Airtel later acknowledged the issue on X (formerly Twitter), issued an apology, and assured subscribers that restoration efforts were underway.
Shortly after Airtel, users of Jio and Vodafone Idea also reported problems. Jio logged over 200 complaints, while Vodafone Idea saw close to 50. The disruption appeared to affect major metros including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, and Chennai, with Jio’s outage extending further to cities like Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Patna, and Ahmedabad.
Social Media Buzz
The timing and scale of the disruptions prompted a flood of posts online. While many subscribers demanded quick clarification from the operators, others expressed their frustration humorously. One user quipped that Airtel’s downtime had caused domestic trouble: “My wife thinks I’m ignoring her calls. Thanks @airtelindia for turning a network issue into a marriage issue.”
Others complained of being unable to make any calls, send messages, or access the internet, calling it a “serious problem” during working hours.
Company Response
So far, Airtel is the only provider to have publicly acknowledged the outage. Jio and Vodafone Idea have not issued formal statements at the time of writing.
The near-simultaneous disruptions across multiple networks have raised questions among customers, who are pressing for more timely updates and clarity from telecom operators.
