Applications
RComm partners with WhatsApp in India
MUMBAI: Reliance Communications has announced their exclusive partnership with WhatsApp in India.
Through this partnership Reliance Communications has launched “first-of-its-kind” prepaid plan ‘WhatsApp Plan‘ for all Reliance GSM subscribers and ‘My College Plan‘ for students across the country.
Reliance GSM customers can now enjoy unlimited usage of WhatsApp and Facebook across the country at Rs 16 per month.
Facebook is bundled complimentary in this pack for a limited period and hence a customer use of WhatsApp and Facebook is absolutely free on the Reliance network. “WhatsApp Plan” is available with a validity period of 30 Days from the date of recharge and the plan is auto-renewed every 30 days unless unsubscribed.
“My College Plan” by RComm offers unlimited social media access of WhatsApp to all college students on the prepaid Reliance GSM network across the country for Rs 16 per month. This plan allows students to call and SMS within their specified group at just 5 paise and also permits a student to broadcast a juicy tidbit in the campus through a SMS to the entire college group for Rs 3 by texting the message to 51112.
“My College Plan” is available with a validity period of 30 Days from the date of recharge and the plan is auto-renewed every 30 days unless unsubscribed. This plan is available with SMS based recharge and applicable to most of the colleges across the country and students can get their college IDs from the official website of Reliance Communications.
Reliance Communications group head – brand and marketing Sanjay Behl said, “We are confident that ‘WhatsApp Plan‘ and ‘My College Plan‘ with unlimited usage of WhatsApp is set to provide a compelling new experience with incredible affordability to Smartphone users across the country on our superior network along with free Facebook surfing as an introductory offer for a limited period. We are hoping this offer to trigger a significant shift of youth customers using Smartphones to our superior network.”
WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton said, “With the rapid growth of Smartphones in India, we are delighted to partner with Reliance Communications. We are currently working with industry leaders across countries and this exclusive partnership will enable millions of Reliance customers to experience the most innovative way to send messages, music, pictures and videos to leverage the power of data through their smart communication devices.”
Applications
Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
