Jio, Airtel Hike Tariffs for Prepaid and Postpaid Customers From July 3

Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel have both announced new postpaid and prepaid tariff plans that raise prices by up to 25 percent. While Jio’s lowest-cost prepaid tariff plan has gone up from Rs. 155 to Rs. 189, Airtel customers will now have to pay at least Rs. 199 per month, up from Rs. 179. The third major player in India, Vi, has not yet announced any price changes. 

Jio has also restricted its free unlimited 5G data offering to plans starting at Rs. 349 per month. To balance out the cost increase, Jio is offering its subscribers free use of two new apps, JioSafe and JioTranslate, for a year, for a combined savings of Rs. 298 per month. JioSafe is a “quantum-secure” platform for storing and sharing files along with calling and messaging, priced at Rs. 199 per month. JioTranslate uses AI to translate text in messages and images along with voice notes and calls, for Rs. 99 per month. 

The move comes as telecom industry players are looking to raise their average revenue per user which they say is necessary to remain financially sustainable. Airtel’s announcement says it is aiming for an ARPU of Rs. 300 in order to “repair” tariffs and justify its investments in infrastructure and spectrum. Jio’s statement indicates the price revisions will help it provide affordable services and sustain the telecom industry. 

In order to soften the impact on price-sensitive customers, Jio says its JioBharat and JioPhone 4G tariffs are not changing, while Airtel claims the cost increase of its entry-level plans works out to only Rs. 0.70 per day. 

Jio’s lowest-cost postpaid plan has gone up from Rs. 299 to Rs. 349 per month and still includes 30GB of data. Airtel users who have been paying Rs. 399 so far will now have to spend Rs. 449 per month and will still get 40GB of data. Data top-ups, longer-term plans and family plans across both operators have also been affected.