In a move that spells the demise of ultra-low pricing that prevailed in the Indian telecom sector over the past couple of years, Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio have all announced plans to increase tariffs this week onwards. While Airtel and Vodafone Idea have already announced new plans that will come into effect from December 3, Jio is yet to reveal the exact details. Jio will increase the prices of its All-in-One (AIO) prepaid vouchers by up to 40 percent from December 6.
Airtel’s tariff hike will come into effect from Tuesday, December 3rd. Post the revisions, the current Rs. 129 pack for 28 days with unlimited calling, 300 SMS, and 2GB of data will cost Rs. 148. Similarly, the plans worth Rs. 169 and Rs. 199 for 28 days have been merged and a new pack of Rs. 248 has been created which would offer the same benefits as the former two, with unlimited calling alongside 100 SMS and 1.5GB of data per day.
Slapped with a massive tax bill by the revenue department, Vodafone Idea is also hiking the prices of its prepaid services from Tuesday. The company has announced new prepaid plans with 2-day, 28-day, 84-day and 1-year validity periods. The AIO combo plans start at Rs. 49 with Rs. 38 talk time, 100MB data, 2.5p/sec tariff, and 28-day validity. Then there’s the Rs. 79 plan with Rs. 64 talktime, 200MB data, 1p/sec tariff and 28-day validity.
The ‘Unlimited’ packs start at Rs. 149 for a 28-day plan with a total of 2GB data, unlimited voice (FUP of 1,000 mins for off-net calls) and 300 SMS, while the Rs. 249 plan will offer unlimited voice (FUP of 1,000 mins for off-net calls), 1.5 GB/day of data and 100 SMS per day for 28 days.
Finally, Reliance Jio on Sunday also announced plans to increase prices by up to 40 percent but they are said to offer up to ‘300 percent more benefits’ than before. These new plans will be revealed on December 6, 2019 and come into effect the same day.
With Inputs From IANS
