Airtel — New prepaid sim activation

I purchased a new prepaid sim today from an Airtel store
I was told to wait for 30 mins before I start the activation process
It has been more than 3 hours and I see no signal on my phone
I have tried different phones
I don't know my new number and the customer care agents at Airtel are not providing any help
I have the sim details ie the 20 digit aim number and the imsc number
I have tried powering on and off the device, inserting reinserting sim etc.. but nothing works
I was charged 50 rs, yet got no reciept . They didn't provide me the mobile number either
In these corona times, I want to mimimize my exposure, yet I am having to visit Airtel store multiple times.
Doorstep kyc is not available and I live in a major city -Chennai
I was expecting better service from Airtel, otherwise I would have just gone with some of the more economical carriers