Vodafone Idea to hike tariff by 20-25% from Nov 25, follows Airtel

Vodafone Idea said on Tuesday it will hike its telecom tariffs by at least 20 per cent from November 25, following bigger rival Bharti Airtel’s announcement yesterday.

Vodafone Idea (Vi) is increasing prepaid tariffs by 20-25 per cent and top-up plan tariffs by 19-21 per cent. The new tariff plans “will start the process of ARPU (average revenue per user) improvement and will help address the financial stress faced by the industry,” the company said in a press release.

Airtel and Vi had hiked rates for entry-level prepaid plans and certain postpaid and family packs a few months ago, and their latest announcement will impact rates across all slabs (existing Rs 79 – Rs 2399). Vi increased rates in the entry-level slab by 25 per cent. In all other slabs, the increase is of 20 per cent. Rates for data top-ups have been increased as well.

Pre-paid customers account for 90- 95 per cent of the customer base for Airtel and Vi. Airtel currently has the highest ARPU among the telecom operators. In the second quarter FY 2022 it reported an ARPU of Rs 153. Reliance Jio and Vi reported ARPUs of Rs 143.6 and Rs 109 respectively.

Airtel has the highest ARPU among the telecom operators. In the second quarter FY 2022 it reported an ARPU of Rs 153. Reliance Jio, the industry leader, and Vi reported ARPUs of Rs 143.6 and Rs 109 respectively.