My experience with Airtel eSim transfer to a new iPhone

Just thought I'd leave this out there for anyone looking to transfer their Airtel India post paid connection eSIM from an old iPhone to a new iPhone -

  1. The inbuilt transfer for iOS 16.x will not help.

  2. You must send an SMS to Airtel to change your eSIM in this format: ESIM <[email protected]> to 121

  3. This SMS must be sent from the eSIM connection.

  4. You will receive a new SMS for confirmation. Once you confirm, a new QR code will be sent to the email you specified in step 2.

  5. Scan the QR and follow the normal steps for activation. There will be some service disruption.

  6. After the new eSIM is setup on your new phone, incoming and outgoing SMS will be barred for 24 hours. So if this number is meant for OTPs, plan ahead.

  7. If this is your main phone and only SIM connection, please do not plan for a device exchange on the same day as receiving your phone. Give it a couple of days at least.

This information was confirmed by calling Airtel's 198 service on 7-Oct-2022

I hope this helps someone.