Vi raises call & data tariffs by 20-25%
The lowest plan bundled with a per day 1 GB data limit and 28 days validity will now cost ₹269
Debt-ridden telecom operator Vodafone Idea on Tuesday announced an increase in mobile call and data tariffs across plans by 20-25%.
The higher tariffs will be effective from 25 November, it said in a statement.
The company has increased the minimum value of recharge by 25.31% for 28 days period to ₹99 from ₹79. In the popular unlimited category plans, Vodafone Idea has hiked the rates in the range of 20-23%.
The lowest plan bundled with a per day 1 GB data limit with 28 days validity will cost ₹269 from 25 November onwards. Currently, it costs ₹219.
Further, the price of 84 days validity plan with 1.5 GB per day data limit will cost ₹719 instead of ₹599.
The 365 days plan with 1.5 GB per day data limit will go up by 20.8% to ₹2,899. Currently, it is priced at ₹2,399. The company has also increased the price of low value data top up by about 20%.
The announcement from Vodafone Idea comes a day after Bharti Airtel announced hiking tariffs.
Airtel increased the entrylevel voice tariff plan by about 25% to ₹99, while for unlimited voice bundles, the increase in most cases is about 20%. The company has about 322 million domestic mobile users and raised tariffs for top-up data plans by 20-21%.
The new rates will come into effect from 26 November, according to the company.
Airtel said higher tariffs will help boost its mobile average revenue per user (Arpu), a key yardstick to measure profitability of mobile telcos, to “₹200 and ultimately at ₹300 so as to provide a reasonable return on capital that allows for a financially healthy business model.”
Vodafone Idea had reported a consolidated net loss of ₹7,132 crore in the second quarter ending September. The loss was ₹7,319 crore in the previous June quarter and ₹7,218 crore in the last year period.
Its revenue from operations mean while fell nearly 13% to ₹9,401 crore for the period under review as against ₹10,786 in the same period last year.
However, when compared with the previous quarter revenue rose nearly 3% from ₹9,144 crore, supported by the gradual resumption of economic activity post severe second wave of Covid.
Meanwhile, Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla is close to investing at least $150 million in Vodafone Idea Ltd in his personal capacity, two people aware of the matter said, as an immediate measure to keep the group’s cash-strapped telecom business afloat.
In a major relief to the company, on 16 September, the government announced a four-year moratorium on regulatory dues, permitted 100% foreign direct investment in telecom through the automatic route, and redefined adjusted gross revenue (AGR).
The relief package has improved Vodafone Idea’s viability. Still, the company has to repay ₹9,000 crore of loans to banks before the end of this fiscal, including ₹5,000 crore of non-convertible debentures.
Vodafone Idea’s gross liabilities, including regulatory dues, stood at around ₹1.9 trillion as of 31 March. The firm owes ₹48,000 crore to eight banks. Of this, borrowings amount to ₹23,000 crore.