How to call India from the UK
When calling India regularly from the UK, it is helpful to understand the options open to you and find the solution that provides the best value and connection quality. There are several ways how to call India from the UK. It is possible to use Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) providers like BOSS Revolution, Viber, Skype and WhatsApp. International calling cards are another example of how to call India, and there are also a variety of mobile phone apps. We'll take a look at each of the options in turn.
Calling plans for India - compare providers
| Pay as you go | Regular monthly rate | Features | Terms | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boss Revolution - special calling plan | 2p / min | £9.99 | Unlimited calls to landlines and mobile phones to India, USA, Colombia and many more. |
You need to download Boss Revolution App to buy a calling plan - No subscription fees. You add credit only when you want to. |
| EE | 3p / min | £13.03 | 500 minutes of calls to 50 other countries including India. | Once the 500 minutes have been used up, you will be charged at standard rates. |
| O2 | 2.5p / min | £10.00 | You will need to pay this monthly bolt-on rate in order to access the discounted rate of 2.5p per minute. | O2 previously offered international bundles that allowed UK call allowances to be used for international calls, but these have been stopped for new users. |
| GiffGaff | 3p / min | - | You will need to have enough credit on your pay-as-you-go sim to complete the call. | GiffGaff doesn’t offer any international calling plans and offers its international tariffs as standard to sim-only customers. |
| Three | £3.00 / min | £6.00 | The Call Abroad 100 add-on lets you make 100 minutes of calls per month to India. | If you try to call India on a Three mobile without first buying a Call Abroad package, each minute will cost £3.00. |
| Vodafone | N/a | £11.50 | 500 minutes to call India or other international destinations on the International Saver 500 Plan. | The International Saver 500 plan auto-renews each month unless it is cancelled. |
The data shown in the table is up to date as of January 9, 2024. Current data may differ slightly due to changes in policies and fluctuations in the exchange rate.
Using calling cards
If you don't have access to the internet or just want to be sure how much you will spend, you can use Boss Revolution calling cards as well. You'll find access numbers for the UK here.
Many different providers offer international calling cards, which can be of varying cost. Some providers may not work well with every mobile phone network in India, and sometimes, the quality of the call connections may not be the best. Finding the one that best meets your needs can be a case of trial and error.
Calling India from the United Kingdom with calling cards is relatively simple. The calling cards generally have the number printed on them, along with easy instructions. They usually require the user to call a particular number and then input the unique access code displayed on the card. They should then proceed with dialling the long international phone number for India.
What is the country code of India?
To get an international line from the UK, users should first dial 00 and then the country code for India, which is +91. They can then dial the rest of the phone number to connect to a mobile phone or landline.
Local area calling codes
To access local area calling codes within India from the UK, you should first dial 00 for an international line, then 91, and then the local code which corresponds to the area that you are calling within India. Once the local area code has been input, you should dial the rest of the number.
| Area | Dial Codes | Area | Dial Codes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ahmedabad | 00 91 79 | Ajmer | 00 91 145 |
| Allahabad | 00 91 | Alwar | 00 91 144 |
| Amritsar | 00 91 183 | Aurangabad | 00 91 2432 |
| Bangalore | 00 91 80 | Barmer | 00 91 2982 |
| Baroda | 00 91 265 | Beawar | 00 91 1462 |
| Bharatpur | 00 91 5644 | Bhilwara | 00 91 1482 |
| Bhopal | 00 91 755 | Bikaner | 00 91 151 |
| Bundi | 00 91 747 | Chandigarh | 00 91 172 |
| Chennai (formerly Madras) | 00 91 44 | Chittorgarh | 00 91 8572 |
| Coimbatore | 00 91 422 | Dehradun | 00 91 135 |
| Delhi | 00 91 11 | Deogarh | 00 91 6432 |
| Dhanbad | 00 91 | Dholpur | 00 91 5642 |
| Faridabad | 00 91 | Fatehpur Sikri | 00 91 5619 |
| Ghaziabad | 00 91 | Gwalior | 00 91 |
| Howrah | 00 91 | Hyderabad | 00 91 40 |
| India | 00 91 | Indore | 00 91 |
| Jabalpur | 00 91 | Jaipur | 00 91 141 |
| Jalandhar | 00 91 181 | Jodhpur | 00 91 |
| Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) | 00 91 33 | Kota | 00 91 744 |
| Lucknow | 00 91 522 | Ludhiana | 00 91 |
| Madurai | 00 91 | Manipal | 00 91 8252 |
| Meerut | 00 91 | Mobile Phones | 00 91 91 to 99 |
| Mount Abu | 00 91 2974 | Mumbai (formerly Bombay ) | 00 91 22 |
| Mussooree | 00 91 1362 | Mysore | 00 91 821 |
| Nagpur | 00 91 782 | Nashik | 00 91 |
| Navi Mumbai | 00 91 | New Delhi | 00 91 11 |
| Panjim (Goa) | 00 91 832 | Patna | 00 91 612 |
| Pune (formerly Poona) | 00 91 20 | Pushkar | 00 91 145 |
| Raipur | 00 91 | Rajkot | 00 91 281 |
| Ranchi | 00 91 | Ranthambhore Natl. Park | 00 91 7462 |
| Sariska | 00 91 144 | Simla | 00 91 177 |
| Srinagar | 00 91 194 | Surat | 00 91 261 |
| Thane | 00 91 | Udaipur | 00 91 294 |
| Vadodara | 00 91 265 | Varanasi | 00 91 542 |
| Vasai-Virar | 00 91 | Vijawada | 00 91 |
| Visakhapatnam | 00 91 |
How to dial India from the UK?
It is relatively easy to call India from the UK. You must first dial 00 for an international line and then 91, which is the internationally recognised country calling code for India, in the same way as 44 is the code for the UK and 34 is the code for Spain.
Calling India from the UK cell phone
Whether you are calling India from a UK mobile phone or calling from a landline, you will still have to use the 00 91 calling format to access an international line and then to phone India. This is standard across all of the UK calling infrastructure and is the same at payphones as with cell phones and home and business landlines.
Calling India from landlines
It is an easy feat to call india from landlines in the UK, but depending on the calling plan you have, it may be expensive. It is important to check how much the charges will be per minute before calling india in order to avoid unexpectedly large phone bills. To call india from a land line, you will need to dial 00 to get a line outside the UK and then 91, which is the designated country code for India.
Calling India for free
Many people wonder how to call india for free. Apps allow free calls to other countries, including India. For the most part, these will be Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, and the reliance on the internet for their connectivity can sometimes mean the connection is not as stable as it should be, which could cause the call to freeze, sound robotic or drop out.
BOSS Revolution
BOSS Revolution is an app for calling different countries that is trusted worldwide. With over 1 million users globally, BOSS Revolution is one of the most popular apps for connecting with family and friends in other countries. This is a way to make cheap, crystal-clear calls from your mobile phone.
As part of the global telecoms giant IDT Corporation, much of the telephone infrastructure used belongs to BOSS Revolution, and they can take advantage of this when it comes to routing calls and passing on savings to the customer.
Calls between fellow users of the BOSS Revolution app are free, and there are low-cost options for calling other telephone numbers in India, including mobiles and landlines. There is no compulsory monthly subscription fee to use the app, and you can top up with credit only when you choose to. The user is in charge of their billing, and there can be no surprises when it comes to charges.
The BOSS Revolution app is available for Android and Apple devices and has exceptionally high ratings on both platforms, 4.5 and 4.6 out of 5, respectively. For only £10, you can call landlines or mobiles in India for 500 minutes. This comes out at 2p per minute and is an exceptionally cheap call cost.
There is also the possibility to easily send money internationally with the BOSS Revolution app.
Facebook Messenger
Although India is in the top five countries for users of Facebook Messenger, only 22% of the country actually uses it. This compares unfavourably to just over 50% market penetration in the UK. The free calls that users can make on Facebook Messenger largely depend on both parties having access to it. The only way to call India for free with it is if both parties have Messenger on their computers or phones. Facebook requires that users have internet access to work, so it is not ideal for people who live in areas where high-speed internet is scarce.
Skype
One of the most famous internet telephony applications, Skype was popular for calling different countries before the pandemic, but it has diminished in popularity as some other competitors gained.Skype has traditionally more often been used for conducting business internationally, so may not be something that a home user has downloaded to their device. As with many other VoIP applications, Skype requires both users to have it installed before it can offer free calls to india or anywhere else.
How to dial toll-free numbers in India from the UK?
It is possible to call Indian toll-free numbers from the UK. First you must enter the exit code for the UK which is 00, then enter the country code for India, which is 91. The next step is to enter the 1800 or other toll-ree prefix before entering the remainder of the phone number. The possibility of the call being connected may depend on the telephone company that you are using and whether they allow users to access toll-free Indian numbers from their network.
Tips to make calls to India from the UK
The purpose of the calls you are making will have an effect on the tone and pattern of speech that you adopt when calling. If you are making sales or business calls, it pays to ensure that you speak clearly and concisely to the topic at hand. If it is a pre-arranged call, you should ensure that you are punctual and don’t keep the other person waiting, as this is considered to be rude.
It is polite to address people by their title and surname, so Dr Gupta would be an appropriate form of address but using their first name would initially not be. If you know each other well, then it is obviously more appropriate to use first names.
In a business call, you should treat all participants with respect, even if you don’t agree with their ideas. Even the less important employees may have the ear of those higher up in the company, and you have no idea of the internal politics. Being pleasant and professional at all times is the best way to proceed on the call.
Wrapping up
There are many ways how to call India from the UK and some of these are more cost effective than others. The options offered by some of the mobile phone networks for calling plans can help to make the world a smaller place and enable you to conduct business and talk to family and friends globally for less.
When considering how to call India, it is useful to work out how often you need to call and the amount of time you will be calling for. This makes it easier to choose between a pay as you go option and the likes of a BOSS Revolution monthly unlimited subscription.
Sources: all third party information obtained from applicable website as of February 2, 2024
This article is provided for general information purposes only and is not intended to address every aspect of the matters discussed herein. The information in this article is not intended as specific personal advice. The information in this article does not constitute legal, tax, regulatory or other professional advice from IDT Payment Services, Inc. and its affiliates (collectively, “IDT”), and should not be taken or used as such by any individual. IDT makes no representation, warranty or guaranty, whether express or implied, that the content in this article is current, accurate, or complete. You should obtain professional or other substantive advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the information in this article.