Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio hike prepaid prices by 40%

Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and Reliance Jio have hiked their tariffs by about 40 per cent after incurring huge losses over the last few weeks.

Bharti Airtel on Sunday hiked tariff rate in the range of 50 paise per day to Rs 2.85 per day, effective from December 3.

The company announced new plans, which will affect the Airtel pre-paid customers who avail the plans provided by the company under its "unlimited" category, among others. 

"Our new mobile plans offer tremendous value to our customers and are backed by a superior network experience on Airtel's nationwide 4G network. Airtel will continue to make large investments in emerging technologies and digital platforms to deliver world-class experiences to our customers," said Shashwat Sharma, Chief Marketing Officer, Bharti Airtel.

According to the release, Airtel's new plans will offer "exclusive benefits as part of the Airtel Thanks platform" to its customers.

Vodafone Idea also announced a similar plan, with plans capping at 2 days, 28 days, 84 days, and 365 days of validity and prices varying from Rs 19-2399.

Similarly, Jio will be introducing the new 'ALL-IN-ONE' plans with unlimited voice and data, effective from December 6.

"Jio will be introducing new ALL-IN-ONE plans with unlimited voice and data. These plans will have a fair usage policy for calls to other mobile networks.
The new plans will be effective from December 6, 2019," the statement informed.

"Although the NEW ALL-IN-ONE plans will be priced up to 40 per cent higher, staying true to its promise of being customer first, Jio customers will get up to 300 per cent more benefits," the statement added.

The company said that while remaining committed to the ultimate interest of the consumer, "Jio will take all necessary steps to help sustain the Indian telecommunications industry."

The statement stressed that Jio will continue to work with the government on the consultation process for the revision of telecom tariffs and looks forward to participation from all other stakeholders.

The hike in tariffs comes after VIL, and Bharti Airtel posted record quarterly losses of ₹50,922 crore and ₹23,045 crore respectively due to a Supreme Court ruling on the adjusted gross revenue (AGR).

Both Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel also have an outstanding debt of over ₹1 lakh crore each. 

The three telecommunication giants account for over 90 per cent market share of 1.18 billion mobile subscribers.

(With inputs from agencies)