Airtel hikes minimum prepaid tariff plan in seven more circles in India: Report
Bharti Airtel has reportedly hiked the minimum prepaid tariff plan for seven more telecom circles in India, taking the tally to a total of nine Telecom circles. The telecom giant had reportedly hiked the minimum prepaid tariff plan in Haryana and Odisha by around 57 percent in November last year. Now, it is making similar changes to seven more telecom circles in the country.
According to a report by Money Control, the company has scrapped the existing minimum recharge plan for prepaid users, which stood at Rs 99. The company now offers prepaid tariff plans starting at Rs 155, marking an increase of around 57 percent. The scrapped plan worth Rs 99 came with a validity of 28 days, and it offered 200MB of data along with charging 2.5 paisa per second for local and STD plans. The new minimum prepaid plan worth Rs 155, on the other hand, comes with a validity of 24 days and it offers one GB of data, 300 SMS, unlimited local and STD calls along with free Hello Tunes and Wynk Music subscription.
Notably, while the report mentions that the change affect seven telecom circles in the country, the exact regions that are being affected by this change remain unclear for now.
“In line with our focus on providing better customer experience, we have discontinued the metered tariff and introduced an entry level plan of Rs 155 with unlimited voice, 1 GB data and 300 SMS…We believe this plan will prove greater flexibility, convenience and superior value,” an Airtel spokesperson told the publication.
To recall, tariff hikes first began in India in November 2021. At the time, Jio was the first telecom operator to announce tariff hike. It was followed by Airtel and Vodafone Idea shortly after. Soon after that, both Airtel and Vodafone Idea had said that they would go for another round of tariff hikes some time in 2022. The second round of tariff hike began with Airtel testing the waters with two of its telecom circles before rolling out the change more widely.
Airtel’s latest move ensures that prepaid users in the affected telecom circles have to pay more for recharging their phone numbers. At the same time, it also ensures that the company’s Average Revenue Per Person (ARPU) is increased, which the company and other telecom operators in the country have long argued needs to improve to make the operations more sustainable for companies in India.
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