At present, the cost of  the prepaid Photon+ connection is Rs 2398 . The connection is activated in less than one hour.

If you wish to make spend money initially, you can receive payments through credit card using a Paypal account.  For verified personal accounts, you can receive upto 5 payments a year. The fees are quite high – 5.9% + US$0.30 .  If someone makes a payment, they will initially indicate a lower amount,  but later the actual fee is displayed.

For a business account, which you can also open for free,  the fees are lower – 3.9% + US$0.30 . Converting the payments to Indian Rupees is a lengthy process and expensive, so   it is advisable to spend the money online.  Paypal payments to India

The amount will be sent as a Citibank cheque in Indian Rupees by ordinary post. The cheque can be encashed at any Citibank branch in India. However, Citibank has branches only at major cities and towns in India, so if you stay in a small town, fees for outstation cheque clearing will be deducted from your account. There will also be some delay in cheque clearance. 

After the cheque is processed by PayPal, information will be available in your account. The time taken for the cheque to reach you will depend on the postal service in your area. It will take a minimum of 10 days and sometimes, there is a delay 45 days.

If the cheque does not reach you after a few months, it may be lost. You can cancel the cheque and get it reissued. There is a fee of US$15 for cancellation of the cheque.

If you do not have a verified PayPal account, you can send a maximum amount of US $500 through PayPal. If your account is verified, the monthly sending limit is $2500. If you have a verified PayPal account, buyers are more likely to deal with you and more sellers will accept your funds. Also, in case of any problem a verified PayPal account is less likely to be affected and your funds will not be frozen. 

To open a Paypal account, go the Paypal website. First select the personal account option and also the country. You will then fill a form to create your PayPal account. You have to provide your address and home phone number. For email address, do not use a free email address which can be closed any time. In case you forget the password, the link for resetting the password will be sent to this address. 

The password should be atleast 8 characters long. You will have to answer 2 security questions out of the 4 available – Your mother’s maiden name, last 4 character’s of driver’s license, Father’s city of birth, city of birth. Note down the answers, since these will be required for password recovery.

After you fill the form for opening a PayPal account, you will receive an email with the activation link. After clicking the link, your account will be activated and you can start sending and receiving money.

It appears that PayPal’s Indian operations are handled through their Singapore office. The website is fairly slow when accessed from Mumbai, India , so you have to be patient as the pages load on your computer. 

You can apply for freelance projects posted at freelance websites like GetaFreelancer, RentaCoder and Guru. You can signup at these websites for free and bid for projects posted there. Most of these websites charge a fee only if you win the project. Payment is usually through Paypal and Moneybookers

Many small companies outsource their data entry, data conversion, freelance writing, CAD (drafting), graphic , website design and programming work. Daily updated list of online jobs . However, you have to directly negotiate with the service buyer and there is no guarantee of payment. If you are lucky, you can find companies who will use your services for a long time.

Posting in forums and websites is another way to earn an online income. For forum posting, only good quality posts are approved.

Most of the other methods to earn online in India require a joining fee and are usually scams. If you know of any other reliable way to earn money online in India, please let me know!

If you are looking for a IT or IT related job, you should apply online at the various job websites like Monster India, Naukri, TimesJobs, since most IT companies use these websites . You can upload your resume at these websites for free. The companies and placement agents will directly contact you. Keeping your resume updated will increase your chances of getting job offers.

Many banking, finance, manufacturing, pharmaceutical and other companies have also started posting vacancies on the job websites. However, since most job websites charge employers a fee, smaller companies prefer to post the vacancies in the local newspapers or recruit through placement agencies. Companies who wish to hire local candidates will also find advertising in newspapers more economical.

The more companies you apply to, the greater your chances of getting a job. Most companies take a few weeks to shortlist candidates, so keep trying!