India App Quality Report · Q4 2026 · Telecom & DTH
What breaks in India's telecom and DTH apps
On 23 October 2026 we read the 77 reviews Google Play shows on 5 of India's most-used telecom and DTH apps. 7.8% describe the app malfunctioning — below the 10.7% across all 187 apps in the India App Quality Report.
Fewer than 100 reviews were read for this category, so its figures have a wide uncertainty range. Treat them as indicative.
Features that don't work lead, at 2.6% of reviews
Share of the category's storefront reviews that describe each kind of malfunction, against the same share across all 187 apps.
What to test first in telecom and DTH apps
- Recharge and bill payment. Money debited but no recharge is the costliest failure a telecom app can show a customer. Test cases →
- Balance and data-usage screens right after a recharge. Test cases →
- OTP login on the same SIM the app manages, on dual-SIM phones. Test cases →
- UPI payments from inside the app and the return from the UPI app. Test cases →
The 5 apps we read
| App | Rating | Installs | Days since update | Reviews read | Malfunction reviews | Main problem |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airtel Thanks | 4.1★ | 50Cr+ | 66 | 18 | 2 | Slow or laggy |
| BSNL Selfcare | 2.4★ | 10L+ | 11 | 6 | 3 | Payment & UPI failures |
| MyJio | 4.5★ | 50Cr+ | 78 | 17 | 1 | A feature doesn't work |
| Tata Play | 3.6★ | 5Cr+ | 2 | 18 | 0 | – |
| Vi | 4.4★ | 10Cr+ | 7 | 18 | 0 | – |
Per-app counts are small samples of what each storefront showed on 23 October 2026 (up to 18 reviews for apps with 1 crore+ installs, up to 6 for smaller apps). Google changes which reviews it shows, so read them as a snapshot, not a verdict on an app.
Scan your own app
Paste a Google Play link to see how your app's reviews compare with this category, review by review.
Build a test plan
Pick the flows above, get a downloadable set of test cases with the India-specific edge cases marked.
How these numbers were made
We loaded each app's Google Play India store page on 23 October 2026 and recorded every review shown: up to three per language, in English and Hindi for every app and also in Bengali, Marathi, Telugu and Tamil for apps with 1 crore or more installs. Each review was coded for the one main problem it describes against a written codebook, and a second coder re-coded a random sample blind (92.1% agreement on whether a review describes a malfunction). A review counts as a malfunction when its main problem is a crash or freeze, a login or OTP failure, a failed payment, a feature that doesn't work, slowness or wrong data. Ranges are 95% Wilson intervals. Full method, codebook and limits are in the report.
Cite as: 99tests (2026). India App Quality Report, Q4 2026 — Telecom & DTH. https://99tests.com/research/app-quality/telecom-apps. Data CC BY 4.0. Google Play is a trademark of Google LLC; this page is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google or any app developer named.
Other categories
Catch it before your reviews do
99tests runs your test cases on real phones with testers across India, on the devices and networks your users have. Every finding verified, serious bugs screen-recorded, report in 3 business days. From ₹9,999 + GST.