Telecom operators to raise mobile call, data charges from December 3

NEW DELHI: In a first mobile tariff hike in the past four years, telecom operators Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel on Sunday announced new plans under which call and data charges will be dearer for its pre-paid customers by up to 42 percent from December 3.

Besides this, Vodafone Idea will also charge 6 paise per minute for every outgoing call made by customers on to the network of other operators.

"Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL), India's leading telecom service provider, today announced new tariffs/plans for its prepaid products and services. New plans will be available across India starting 00:00 hours of 3 December 2019," the company said in a statement.

Vodafone Idea has announced new plans in the "unlimited" category with 2 days, 28 days, 84 days, 365 days validity which on the back of the envelope calculations show are costlier by up to 41.2 percent.

On the other hand, Bharti Airtel said it will raise call and data plan charges for pre-paid customers from December 3, becoming the second operator after Vodafone Idea to announce an increase in its tariffs.

“Airtel’s new plans, represent tariff increases in the range of a mere 50 paise per day to Rs 2.85 per day and offer generous data and calling benefits,” the statement said.

Vodafone Idea which is reeling under a massive debt of around Rs 1.17 lakh crore had earlier cited acute financial stress on the company behind the decision to raise mobile call and data charges.

Vodafone Idea last month reported a consolidated loss of Rs 50,921 crore -- the highest ever loss posted by any Indian corporate -- for the September quarter on account of liability arising out of the Supreme Court's order in the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) case.

The company has estimated liability of Rs 44,150 crore post the apex court order and made provisioning of Rs 25,680 crore in the second quarter this fiscal.