Telecom operator Vodafone Idea (VIL) on Tuesday announced that it will raise prepaid tariff rates by up to 25 per cent with effect from November 25. “The new plans will start the process of ARPU (average revenue per user) improvement and help address the financial stress faced by the industry,” Voda Idea stated in a notification to the exchanges.
The current ₹ 79 plan will cost ₹ 99 from Thursday, a hike of 25 per cent. The ₹ 149 plan will cost ₹ 179, the ₹ 1,498 plan will become ₹ 1,799 and the ₹ 2,399 plan will cost ₹ 2,899.
Voda further mentioned that data top ups will now cost ₹ 58 (up from ₹ 48), ₹ 118 (Rs 98), ₹ 298 (Rs 251), and ₹ 418 (Rs 351) respectively.
Voda Idea’s tariff rate hike comes just a day after telecom major Bharti Airtel decided to increase prepaid prices by up to 25 per cent “to provide a reasonable return on capital for a financially healthy business model.” Airtel’s new prepaid rates will come into effect from November 26.
Shares of VIL traded 0.28 per cent lower at ₹ 10.63 on the BSE index.