Indian telecom users are set to face an additional annual expense of Rs. 47,500 crore following tariff hikes by the country’s top three telecom operators, according to a report by the Economic Times, citing a Kotak Institutional Equities research note.
The tariff increases were implemented to effectively monetize new 5G plans and bring an end to the ongoing price war among telecom operators, which has been ongoing since 2016. Reliance Jio Infocomm raised its prices by 13-27%, Bharti Airtel by 10-21% and Vodafone Idea by nearly 10-23%, all within a span of two days.
As a result, Jio users now need to pay a minimum of ₹349 for a 2 GB per day 5G recharge pack, compared to the previous ₹239 plan that offered 1.5 GB per day. Similarly, Airtel users must now opt for a higher-priced pack at ₹409 for 2.5 GB per day, up from the earlier ₹239 plan for 1.5 GB per day.
The sudden tariff hikes have been justified by industry leaders. Bharti Airtel’s Managing Director Gopal Vittal and Vodafone Idea’s Chief Executive Officer Akshaya Moondra have both emphasized the need to align India’s pricing structure with global standards, where users pay more for higher data consumption. In contrast, Indian users have been paying the same average rate regardless of their internet usage.
The telecom price war in India began with Jio’s low-price strategy to attract customers, prompting competitors like Airtel and Vodafone to follow suit to retain their customer base.
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