Mobile bills may rise further as telcos keep adding subscribers

New Delhi: Mobile tariffs could rise again towards the year-end, by 10-12%, especially for mid-and-higher paying consumers. Sharp rise in active subscribers in May, backed by a fifth straight month of net user additions, has stimulated telecom operators’ appetite for a fresh round of tariff hikes, say industry executives and analysts. They, however, cautioned that base plan prices rose 11-23% during the last increase in July 2024 and any further increase could trigger higher subscriber churn.

The next round could also see the introduction of tiered pricing where data allowances are reduced drastically to incentivise purchasing of more data packs, say experts.