Airtel and Vodafone India have announced that they will increase the pricing of their prepaid and postpaid tariffs from December. Both voice and data services from the two telecom operators will be costlier after the hike in price next month. The announcement from Vodafone Idea and Airtel came soon after the two telcos announced massive losses for the July-September quarter. Vodafone Idea will start charging more from December 1st, but there’s no word on the same from Airtel at the moment. As of now, the two companies haven’t revealed the exact amounts by which their prepaid and postpaid tariffs will be raised.
Airtel and Vodafone Idea users will have to pay more for their services from December
Airtel and Vodafone Idea will be increasing the price of their services in a bid to generate their lost revenues. Notably, in late October the Supreme Court asked the telecom operators in the country to pay the government a total amount of Rs 92,000 crores as Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR). Airtel and Vodafone Idea will have to pay their outstanding license fees of Rs 21,682 crores and Rs 28,309 crores respectively.
Post the announcement in October, Vodafone announced a quarterly loss of Rs 50,900 crores, which is the highest quarterly loss in the corporate history of India. Airtel also announced a quarterly loss for the same period Rs 23,000 crores.
Regarding the price hikes, Airtel in a statement said, “While continuing to provide affordable tariffs to customers, it would balance the needs of the company to remain viable and thereby continue to invest in the much needed digital infrastructure and maintain the quality standards required by our customers”.
As for Vodafone Idea, the company said, “To ensure that its customers continue to enjoy world-class digital experiences, Vodafone Idea will suitably increase the prices of its tariffs effective December 1st, 2019″.
We will keep you posted regarding the hike in the tariffs of Airtel and Vodafone Idea services as soon as the brands officially announce anything, so stay tuned for regular updates.