Bharti Airtel has removed a controversial clause restricting mobile hotspot use from its unlimited 5G data plan terms after it sparked widespread criticism. The clause, which appeared in Google search snippets on July 16 and 18, stated that sharing data via mobile hotspots was not allowed under the unlimited 5G offer. By July 20, the clause was no longer visible on Airtel's official terms page, indicating its removal, according to medianama.com.
The hotspot restriction clause circulated widely on social media, particularly on X (formerly Twitter), leading to public backlash. The Free Press Journal noted on July 18 that Google's snippet for Airtel's unlimited 5G terms included the hotspot ban, but clicking through redirected users to a general terms page without the clause. Medianama's review on July 20 confirmed that the clause was absent from the updated terms page, suggesting Airtel had removed it and Google had re-indexed the page accordingly.
Airtel markets its postpaid unlimited 5G data plan as offering unlimited data but treats usage beyond 300GB per billing cycle as commercial, reserving the right to throttle speeds or suspend services for commercial or fraudulent use. The initial inclusion of the hotspot clause contradicted the unlimited data marketing and raised concerns about the true extent of data sharing allowed. The removal of the clause aligns the terms more closely with customer expectations and industry standards for unlimited plans.
Airtel's updated terms now omit any explicit ban on mobile hotspot sharing for unlimited 5G data users, as confirmed by the absence of the clause on its official website and Google search snippets as of July 20, 2026.