Airtel has discontinued its four prepaid recharge plans in India. These also include the very popular plan of Rs 299. The company has also completely removed the plans of Rs 579, Rs 619 and Rs 649 from its list.
In their place, some expensive options have been made available in the market, whose price is higher by about 5 to 16 percent. This means that now customers will have to spend approximately Rs 50 more every month for these recharges. After this change, the discussion about tariff increase has once again intensified in the telecom industry, although Airtel has not yet officially announced any major tariff hike. These four plans are no longer visible on the company's official website and app. Airtel has more than 38 crore mobile users in India, who will now have to recharge their mobile by paying higher prices.
Rs 299 plan discontinued, now Rs 349 pack
Airtel's Rs 299 plan offered 1.5 GB data per day for 28 days. Now this plan has been discontinued and a pack of Rs 349 is being given as its replacement. In this also the validity is only 28 days, but 2 GB data is available daily. That means customers will have to pay Rs 50 more than before. In terms of price, this is an increase of about 16 percent, although in the new plan, users are also getting slightly more daily data.
Plans of Rs 579, 619 and 649 were also removed
Apart from Rs 299, Airtel has also discontinued prepaid plans of Rs 579, Rs 619 and Rs 649. According to reports, the price of new replacement plans available in these categories is higher by about 5 to 16 percent. This has reduced the number of price points available to Airtel prepaid customers.
However, the lower priced plans of Rs 199 and Rs 219 are still available. The Rs 199 plan offers a total of 2 GB data for 28 days, while the Rs 219 plan offers a total of 3 GB data for 28 days.
Is a big tariff increase coming?
This change in Airtel's plans has happened at a time when discussions about another tariff hike are in full swing in the telecom industry. According to a report by Centrum Institutional Research, Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea may increase the prices of their prepaid plans by up to 15 percent in the next three to four months. The report expects a tariff hike of 12 to 15 percent. However, Airtel has not yet made any official announcement of nationwide price hike.
Tariff hike not confirmed at present
This current move by Airtel may be an early sign of a tariff increase, but it is too early to call it an all-out tariff hike. At present this change seems to be limited to some selected plans only. An official response has been sought from Airtel in this matter and the situation may become more clear after the company's statement.
At present, it is certain for the users that some of their old favorite recharge options have ended and the plans available in their place are a bit expensive. Now it remains to be seen whether such changes are made by Jio and Vodafone-Idea (Vi) in the coming days or not.