Vi Adds Free International Roaming to Selected Mobile Plans
Vodafone Idea, or Vi, announced on September 25, 2026, that selected mobile plans now include international roaming benefits without requiring customers to purchase a separate pack for every eligible trip. The new Roam-Free proposition covers selected prepaid, postpaid and enterprise plans and is intended for customers who want to retain their Indian number while travelling overseas.
The headline benefit is access to international roaming across Vi’s footprint of more than 170 countries. However, this should not be interpreted as identical unlimited service in every destination. Data allowances, outgoing calling minutes, the number of complimentary trips and other inclusions vary according to the customer’s plan and the country being visited.
Who is eligible?
Vi says the benefit is available on selected postpaid plans starting at ₹501 per month, annual prepaid unlimited-data plans and enterprise plans starting at ₹451 per month. Eligibility is tied to the exact plan rather than simply being a Vi customer.
As an example, Vi’s postpaid listing for Mumbai currently shows the ₹501 Vi Max plan with one complimentary international roaming trip per year and the ₹601 plan with two trips. Other eligible prepaid, family or enterprise products may provide different entitlements, taking the maximum to three trips in a year. Plan availability and pricing can vary by telecom circle, customer type and billing arrangement.
Existing customers should therefore check their active plan in the Vi app instead of assuming that every similarly priced or older plan has been upgraded automatically. Customers changing plans should also verify when the new benefits become active and whether taxes are additional to the advertised monthly rental.
What does “up to three trips” mean?
The annual limit is plan-dependent. It does not guarantee three free trips to every subscriber. A lower-priced eligible plan may provide one trip, while another plan may provide two or three. Once the included annual entitlement is exhausted, the customer may need to purchase a regular international roaming pack for another journey.
Each activation is treated as a trip entitlement. Travellers should avoid activating a complimentary pack speculatively because an activated benefit may not be reversible, even if the journey is cancelled. The precise reset date—such as a calendar year, plan year or billing-cycle-linked period—should be checked in the plan terms displayed for the individual number.
Destinations and allowances
Vi has described the wider proposition as covering more than 170 countries but has not published a simple, universal country list with one common allowance for every Roam-Free plan. Customers must select their destination in the app to see whether the complimentary benefit applies and what it includes.
International roaming benefits can differ substantially by destination. Some countries may receive broader calling and data allowances, while others may have fixed high-speed data or voice quotas. The announcement specifically refers to international data and outgoing minutes that vary by plan. Travellers should separately confirm incoming-call charges, text-message benefits, high-speed data limits and the permitted types of outgoing calls before activation.
How to activate the benefit
- Open the Vi app and sign in with the eligible mobile number.
- Go to the international roaming section.
- Select the destination and review the Roam-Free option shown for the active plan.
- Check the included data, calling allowance, trip duration and activation date.
- Confirm activation before departure and retain the confirmation message.
- After landing, enable data roaming on the handset and restart it if it does not connect automatically to a partner network.
Vi generally allows roaming activation after arrival through the app or its website using Wi-Fi, but completing the process before leaving India reduces the risk of arriving without service. The company says activation can take around 30 minutes in some cases.
Validity and important exclusions
The free benefit is not an open-ended roaming service. Its validity, data quota and calling minutes are determined by the specific complimentary pack selected in the app. Usage after the pack expires or after an included quota is exhausted may be charged at the applicable standard international roaming rate.
Destinations outside the applicable pack, calls to premium-rate numbers or special codes, and connectivity through maritime, cruise-ship, satellite or in-flight networks may be excluded. Domestic unlimited data and calling benefits should not be assumed to work overseas unless the roaming screen explicitly says so.
Because international rates vary by country and type of usage, no direct comparison with Vi’s standard roaming charges is included here. Before travelling, customers should take a screenshot of the displayed benefits and charges, switch off unnecessary background data and verify that their handset supports the networks available at the destination.
