BSNL Now Lets Women Recharge Phones At Shops Without Revealing Their Personal Number
BSNL Kavach generates a temporary 10-digit number for recharging phone numbers at retail stores without sharing the actual number with retailers.
Published : March 11, 2026 at 3:08 PM IST
Hyderabad: The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has rolled out a new feature called Kavach in India. It allows women subscribers to recharge their BSNL phone numbers at offline stores without revealing it to the retailer. The Kavach feature aims to help Indian women with BSNL telecom services to keep their phone numbers private and reduce the risk of unwanted contact and misuse.
With the Kavach feature, women with a BSNL subscription can generate a temporary 10-digit number linked to their real phone number. Once the feature is activated, the temporary number is sent to the user through SMS, which can be shared at any BSNL authorised retail store.
It is worth noting that the temporary 10-digit number is not permanent, as it expires after some time, just like a One-Time Password (OTP). So, users will have to generate the temporary number every time they want to recharge their phone number.
Your phone number is personal.
— BSNL India (@BSNLCorporate) March 10, 2026
Keep it that way.
Show your Kavach number at a BSNL store and recharge without revealing your real number.
BSNL Kavach – Recharge with Privacy.#BSNLKavach #RechargeSecurely #WomenSafetyMatters @CMDBSNL @robertravi21 pic.twitter.com/U2ZJskiGcW
BSNL Kavach: How to activate this feature
Female BSNL users can activate the Kavach feature and receive a temporary 10-digit number by following the steps below:
Step 1: Open your phone dialler app.
Step 2: Dial 1800 180 1503 or 1500 on the app and call the number.
Step 3: Press 9 to connect to a customer care executive and ask them to activate the Kavach feature.
Step 4: Follow the instructions provided by the customer care executive to get an SMS with the 10-digit temporary number.
Step 5: Share this temporary number with the person at the retail store to recharge your phone number.
Users can also activate the Kavach feature via the BSNL Self Care as well.
What are the benefits of this feature?
The Kavach feature from BSNL allows women users’ personal mobile phone numbers to be private by adding an extra layer of protection during offline recharges. Even though telecom companies offer online recharge facilities through their official websites and apps, people who are not so well-versed in the online world find it difficult to recharge their phones. Additionally, the Kavach feature would be useful in rural areas where internet connectivity is limited or digital payments are not widely used.
