Reliance Jio will start charging its new and existing customers starting from March 31. In a bid to generate hype and lure more people into jumping aboard, the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has introduced Jio Prime. Jio Prime marks RIL's first-time foray into the field of paid subscriptions. Well until now - February 28 -- it was offering all its 4G services for free. "Jio Prime brings a host of benefits with it," says the company on its official website.

Also Read: Jio Prime membership available from today, new data plan gives 58GB for Rs 499

The benefits being:

-- Unlimited benefits of free voice (Local, STD, Roaming, to any operator, anywhere in India), data and SMS that you have been currently using till March 31, 2018 for Rs 303 per month. You could also choose to enhance your benefits at nominal incremental fees.

-- Complimentary benefit of Jio's premium content bouquet worth Rs 10,000 for an entire year.

What is Jio Prime?

You can look at it as a promotional scheme wherein subscribers will get additional benefits (on the lines of those mentioned above) for a year, that is, from March 31, 2017 to March 31, 2018. Subscribers, both old and new, can avail the offer through Rs 99 recharge pack. There a number of ways in which this can be done. "Recharge with Rs 99 Jio Prime membership before 31 March 2017 from MyJio, JioMoney, Jio.com or nearest retailer," notes the company.

The company also notes that, "all customers who join Jio before March 3, 2017 under the Jio Happy New Year Offer can continue to enjoy free benefits until March 31, 2017. New customers who join from March 4, 2017 can get unlimited benefits till March 31, 2017 (also) by opting for the Jio Prime at Rs 99 one-time membership fees."

What are the Reliance Jio Prime tariff plans?

There will be as many as 9 tariff plans to choose from for both Jio Prime and non-Jio Prime subscribers starting from March 31, 2017. These start at Rs 19 and go all the way up to Rs 9,999, in case of prepaid. Postpaid plans, meanwhile, start at Rs 303 and go all the way to Rs 999.

Here's the complete breakdown:

-- For prepaid Jio users:

Rs 19 plan: 200MB for Prime members. 100MB for non-Prime users. Validity of 1 day.

Rs 49 plan: 600MB for Prime members. 300MB for non-Prime users. Validity of 3 days.

Rs 96 plan: 1GB for Prime members. 600MB for non-Prime users. Validity of 7 days.

Rs 149 plan: 2GB for Prime members. 1GB for non-Prime users. Validity of 28 days.

Rs 303 Plan: 30GB for Prime members. Unlimited data at lower speed after FUP of 1GB per day. 2.5GB data for non-Prime users. Validity of 28 days.

Rs 499 plan: 58GB for Prime members. Unlimited data at lower speed after 2GB FUP per day. 5GB for non-Prime users. 28 days validity.

Rs 999 Plan: 60GB for Prime members. No daily FUP. Unlimited data at lower speed after limit exhausted. 12.5GB for non-Prime users. Validity of 60 days for Prime members. 28 days validity for non-Prime members.

Rs 1999 Plan: 125GB for Prime members. Data lower speed after quota exhausted. 90 days validity. 30GB for non-Prime users. Validity of 30 days.

Rs 4999 plan: 350GB for prime members with validity of 180 days. 100GB for non-Prime users with validity of 30 days.

Rs 9999 plan: 750GB for Prime members with validity of 1 year. 200GB for non-Prime users with validity of 1 month.

-- For Post-paid users:

For post-paid users there are only three plans for now: Rs 303 plan, Rs 499 plan and Rs 999 plan. The specifics of the three plans are same as those of the pre-paid plans. As expected Prime members get more data compared to non-Prime users.

What if you don't want to subscribe to Reliance Jio Prime?

Well, then don't. It is not compulsory to subscribe. It must be clearly understood that Jio Prime is simply a promotional offer that will give you certain benefits - mainly data, and free subscription to Jio's complementary services - for a year. The company also notes that Prime subscribers will also be eligible for certain other schemes at a later stage. If however you chose not to jump aboard, you can always go along with the non-Jio Prime standard tariffs on offer.

Jio Prime or not, you will have to start paying for Jio from March 31

Jio will not be free to use from March 31. It doesn't matter whether you subscribe to Prime or not.

"Post March 31, 2017 if you have not recharged with any plan, your services will stop. You will be able to get incoming voice calls and SMS for certain period," says the company.

Also, starting from March 31, "if you do not recharge after the validity of your existing recharge is over, you will only be able to receive incoming calls and messages. If you do not do any recharges in 90 days, your number might get disconnected," it adds.

Also Read: Not just Prime, Jio prepares long-term data plans, offers 60GB data for Rs 999

Reliance Jio has amassed over 100 million subscribers till now, which means over 100 million people in India are currently using its free 4G SIM card. The services will not be free going forward. The idea behind Prime is therefore to retain a significant chunk of users who otherwise may not continue with the network once its Happy New Year Offer expires on March 31.