Is Centre giving 3-month freebies for Jio, Airtel & Vi users amid record COVID-19 jabs?

Parallel to the problems put forth by the COVID-19 pandemic is an outbreak of fake news. Several misleading claims are being spread at an alarming rate across social media to defraud people. Recently, a message that went viral claimed that the Centre is offering free mobile recharge for three months for Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vi (Vodafone Idea) users to celebrate the milestones achieved in COVID-19 vaccinations.

The message claimed: "Due to record number of vaccinations in the country, all Indian users are being offered free recharge for three months. If you are a customer of Jio, Aprtel or Vi then you can avail this offer."

The message also asks users to click on a suspicious link to get the benefit of this offer. In the end, it claims that the offer will be valid till December 20, 2021.

However, busting the fake news, the Press Information Bureau's fact check handle informed that no such announcement has been made by the government. "Do not share or forward any of your personal information on the link of any such fake message," PIB fact check tweeted.

Meanwhile, India's COVID vaccination coverage has reached nearly 133 crore, with the country administering more than 87 lakh doses till 9.30 pm on Saturday. According to CoWIN, vaccination is being conducted at more than 1 lakh sites.

Did govt offer one-year free internet access to celebrate Olympic gold?

This is not the first time that fraudsters have used social media platforms to share fake claims. In August, a similar post went viral claiming that the government of India is offering one year of free internet access to celebrate India's gold medal at Tokyo Olympics. However, the PIB was quick to term it fake.

"This claim is false. The government of India has not made any such announcement regarding free recharge. Please do not share your personal information on any such fake links, "PIB had said.