Our family has OCI's and will be visiting Chennai next month for 2 weeks. How do we get a SIM Card or mobile phone connection at Chennai airport? I know its tricky for Non residents to get around. Is there anyway to get?

Thanks

You will need ID proof, address proof and photograph. Your passport and OCI will serve as ID proof and overseas address proof. Also you need address proof in India. Otherwise somebody will be required as local reference to give local address proof. Even if you have the documents, it will take about 2 days for verification to be completed and SIM to be activated. Only if you have Aadhar card with address in the Tamil Nadu circle, can you hope to get instant activation of SIM.

The other alternative would be to get a global SIM card on amazon or ebay but call rates would be expensive. Otherwise make do with roaming rates on regular Canadian SIM card until you can arrange a local Indian SIM card.

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Ask relatives or friends to keep a Pre-Paid SIM ready for you, when you come.

At the Airport use your Canadian WhatsApp with the Wi-Fi connection from Chennai Airport. Usually its free.

Make sure you either remove your Canadian SIM card or disable Cellular data/Calls when you reach India if you still have the Canadian SIM card inside the phone. If you don't do that, you will get ridiculous roaming charges & bill..if any data or calls are made on the Canadian SIM.

For just Rs. 150 you get 28 days of unlimited local calling and 2 GB data with Vodafone India or Reliance JIO (prepaid). That's only 3 Canadian bucks !

For foreign nationals following documents are required :

https://www.vodafone.in/discover/get-started/proof-of-address-and-identity-foreign-nationals

If you don't want all the above hassle for 2 weeks, then just ask a relative/friend to keep a pre-paid SIM ready for you. Cost is only Rs. 150 . Destroy it after you visit or keep it for future visits to India.

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1.Is there free Wi-Fi at Chennai International Airport?

Yes. The free Wi-Fi service at MAA is provided by Chennai International Airport

2. Is there a time limit on free Wi-Fi connections at MAA?

Yes, free sessions last for 30 minutes.

3. How do I connect to and use the free Wi-Fi at MAA?

To connect to MAA passenger Wi-Fi, use your device to connect to SSID Free wifi for 30 min as shown below

Jump to Android | iOS | Mac OSX | Windows
To use the service you will need to register.
Once connected, open your WWW browser.
You will be shown a registration form.
Fill in your details and submit them.

You will then be able to use the MAA free Wi-Fi for 30 minutes.Full details for accessing the free Wi-Fi can be obtained from

https://www.quora.com/Does-the-Chennai-international-airport-have-free-Wifi-access

Trust me for 2 weeks its best to get a pre paid SIM from a relative.

You don't want to give sensitive info like Pass port to some guy who sits on the street.

If you have local Indian ID's like PAN card, Aadhaar card, Indian home address that's even better, no need to depend on relatives.

@pendse great info thanks. No relatives thr but will ask a frnd to buy pre paid sim card for me. So they will buy a pre paid card under their name is it?

Most major airports in India have free Wifi but there is a time limit like 30 minutes. Also you will need to register with your phone number and they will send OTP there without which you cannot register. So if you don't have a working SIM, you are mostly out of luck. In the quora link provided by pendse, it is stated you require an Indian SIM to get the OTP.

Keeping alive an India SIM overseas is not easy. You have to recharge it every 30 days or so and there has be some activity on the SIM or the number will get forfeited.

All Indian mobile subscribers have to link their Aadhar number with the phone number. For this they have to go the respective retail store and give their fingerprints. February 6, 2018 is the cut off date.

See https://www.airtel.in/link-aadhaar-mobile/

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Quote:

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Originally posted by samna1978

great info thanks. No relatives thr but will ask a frnd to buy pre paid sim card for me. So they will buy a pre paid card under their name is it?

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