Telecom companies hike prepaid plan prices as revenue slows
Most Indian telecom operators—except Reliance Jio—have bumped up prepaid plan prices since November, amid expectations of a sector-wide tariff hike in the next few weeks.
Vodafone Idea (Vi) raised prices of its annual ₹1,999 prepaid plan by 12% and the 84-day ₹509 plan by 7%.
Airtel and BSNL make changes too
Airtel's cheapest voice-only plan now costs ₹189, up by ₹10.
BSNL has trimmed the validity on some budget plans but kept prices steady.
Across the board, popular data packs could get costlier by up to 15% by year-end—with a typical 1.5GB daily pack likely seeing a ₹50 hike per 28-day cycle.
Why are prices going up?
Revenue growth in the sector has dropped from around 15% to just 10%, with analysts expecting this to push telcos to rethink pricing.
Stable inflation and no major elections right now make it easier for companies to roll out hikes.
Vi is also aligning its rates with rivals after losing budget users, aiming for healthier margins—and says more hikes might come, but not for another year or so.