Airtel announces 20-25 per cent tariffs hikes for prepaid offerings

NEW DELHI: Telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Monday announced 20-25 per cent tariffs hikes for various prepaid offering, including tariffed voice plans, unlimited voice bundles, and data top ups.

The entry-level tariffed voice plan has been hiked by about 25 per cent, while for unlimited voice bundles the increase in most cases is about 20 per cent.

The company said it has always maintained that the mobile Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) needs to be at Rs 200 and ultimately at Rs 300, so as to provide a reasonable return on capital that allows for a financially healthy business model.

"We also believe that this level of ARPU will enable the substantial investments required in networks and spectrum. Even more important, this will give Airtel the elbow room to roll-out 5G in India," Airtel said in a statement.

As the first step towards this, the company said it is taking the lead in "rebalancing" tariffs during the month of November.

The new tariffs will come into effect from November 26, 2021.

In tariffed voice plans, the new rate is Rs 99, against the current Rs 79 with 28 days validity and benefits like "50 per cent more talktime worth Rs 99, 200 MB data, 1p/sec voice tariff".

The other categories where hike has been announced are unlimited voice bundles and data top ups.