After Delhi last week, Airtel down in Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata; users struggle to make calls

Bharti Airtel faced a major network disruption on Sunday that left users in several parts of the country struggling to connect. In Bengaluru, Karnataka’s capital, many customers reported that they were unable to make or receive calls. According to outage-tracking platform DownDetector, complaints began surfacing around 11 am and peaked shortly after noon, with over 6,800 reports logged by 12:11 pm. The site indicated that more than half the users encountered a “No Signal” alert, while nearly a third faced issues with mobile data. Alongside Bengaluru, connectivity problems were also reported in cities such as Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Chennai. Airtel described the incident as a “temporary disruption” and assured subscribers that services would be restored within an hour. “We regret the inconvenience. The disruption you are facing is due to a temporary connectivity issue and should be resolved within an hour. Once resolved, please restart your phone to restore service. Thank you,” Airtel Cares said in a message. This outage comes close on the heels of a similar service breakdown in Delhi and nearby regions, for which the telecom operator had recently issued an apology.

Social Media Reactions

The blackout prompted a flood of complaints on X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit. “Anyone else in Bangalore facing an Airtel outage? Calls and data both not working,” one user asked. Another wrote, “No network in Dharwad, Karnataka. Airtel, what’s going on?” Some Delhi residents also reported disruptions. “Airtel down in Delhi? My wife thinks I’m ignoring her calls. Thanks, Airtel, for turning a network issue into a marriage problem,” joked one user. Others voiced frustration over the lack of official communication. “All services—mobile, internet, and broadband—are down in Bengaluru without notice. To make it worse, Airtel is not registering complaints via the app or IVRS, and there’s no response on Twitter either,” a customer posted.