A free phone from the government with free talk time, no contracts and bills is great to hear. Many people still find it hard to believe. But it is true. This service is in practice since 1996 and it has very simple rules and regulations. The main aim of the program is to provide proper communication services to people having very low income. The program is called SafeLink Wireless service.
The monthly income of house of the applicant should be less than the Federal Poverty Guidelines set by our government. The applicants house should not have a landline phone using the Lifeline services. If they have one, they should cancel it to avail the new wireless phone.
There are seven public assistance programs offered to people living under the poverty line. They are Federal Public housing Assistance, Food Stamps, Medicaid, SSI, LIHEAP, TANF or National School Lunch. The person applying for the free phones from the government is expected to receive help from any one of these programs. The applicant can participate in the program only if their state is listed amongst one of the 31 states taking part in the program. The person should have a proper physical address and only one phone will be provided to one address.
Apart from these common requirements, each state may have some slight changes in the eligibility criteria based on their own policies. To mention one, we can consider the monthly household income. Each state has a different level for this. Not all states offer uniform minutes of free talk time. Free talk time minutes differ widely with the average being one hour free talk time per month. Few states just require the customer to enter the last four digits of their social security number while other ask the customers to enclose a copy of documents enlisting them in the public assistance program.
If the applicant wants to cancel the SafeLink Service, they can notify the SafeLink office anytime. Even if they cancel the service, the free phone remains with them forever. Only the free talk time service will be stopped. The phone can be used like any other mobile phone with TracFone recharge cards. The applicants should notify the SafeLink Wireless services if their income increases above the given level or they stop using public assistance programs. Their free talk time service will be stopped. The details regarding their income and address will be checked once in a year during the service renewal.
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