Bharti Airtel revises prepaid mobile tariffs, shares surge

Telecom service provider Bharti Airtel today said it has decided to revise its prepaid tariffs with effect from November 26, 2021. The news sent Bharti Airtel stock 4% higher in early trade.  

“Bharti Airtel has always maintained that the mobile Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) needs to be at ₹200 and ultimately at ₹300, so as to provide a reasonable return on capital that allows for a financially healthy business model,” the company said.

“We also believe that this level of ARPU will enable the substantial investments required in networks and spectrum. Even more important, this will give Airtel the elbow room to roll out 5G in India. Therefore, as a first step, we are taking the lead in rebalancing our tariffs during the month of November. Accordingly, our new tariffs as indicated below will come into effect from November 26, 2021,” said the firm.

The new tariffs for all prepaid packs will be available on www.airtel.in starting November 26, 2021.

The entry-level tariffed voice plan has been hiked by about 25 per cent, while for unlimited voice bundles the increase in most cases is about 20 per cent.

In tariffed voice plans, the new rate is ₹99, against the current ₹79 with 28 days validity and benefits like "50 per cent more talk time worth ₹99, 200 MB data, 1p/sec voice tariff".

The other categories where a hike has been announced are unlimited voice bundles and data top-ups.

Here are Airtel's new prepaid plans

28 days - ₹99

28 days - ₹179

28 days- ₹265

28 days- ₹299

28 days- ₹359

56 days- ₹479

56 days- ₹549

84 days- ₹455

84 days- ₹719

84 days- ₹839

365 days- ₹1799

365 days- ₹2999