Mobile Tariff Hike: Mobile users in India may soon have to spend more on recharge plans.
Telecom companies are expected to increase the prices of both prepaid and postpaid mobile plans by the end of 2025.
Experts in the telecom sector believe that these plans could become 10 to 20 percent more expensive around November–December 2025.
This would be the fourth tariff hike in the last six years by major telecom operators.
Prepaid Plans to Become 10–20% Costlier
The reason for the hike is to increase earnings and profits while dealing with rising costs and the rollout of 5G services.
Companies like Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, and Vodafone Idea are investing large amounts in expanding their networks, buying spectrum, and meeting regulatory charges.
Recently, Vodafone Idea got approval to convert its ₹36,950 crore spectrum dues into government equity, increasing the government’s stake in the company from 22.6% to about 49%.
Why Are Telecom Companies Raising Prices?
A report from Bernstein Research says this price hike is part of a “rate repair” strategy. This approach is meant to stabilize telecom companies’ revenues.
Experts say that tariff hikes will likely continue over the next few years, and the average revenue per user (ARPU) could reach ₹300 by 2027.
In the last quarter of 2024:
Airtel’s ARPU grew by 5.2% to ₹245
Jio’s ARPU was ₹203
Vodafone Idea’s ARPU was ₹163
These figures are expected to rise further as 5G services and mobile data usage increase.
Plans Likely to Get Costlier by Year-End
Vodafone Idea CEO Akshay Mundra said that in a country like India, tariff hikes are needed every 9 months to maintain good network quality and to support new technologies such as IoT and enterprise services.
Customers should prepare for more expensive mobile recharge plans by the end of the year.
However, companies believe that this step is important to offer better service and wider network coverage across India.
