Indian telecom operators have hiked mobile data and voice call charges for consumers, which is only applicable for prepaid users for now.
Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea Limited and Airtel have shared details of the new plans for their prepaid users, which came into effect from 6 December onwards. So if you're still using the old plans, the next recharge will cost you more than before.
To get a better idea of how much users on these networks will have to pay for their mobile bills from this month onwards, here’s a detailed telco-wise look at the changes announced and which telco manages to pack more data and validity for less money.
Airtel with its new plans has claimed users will be paying a tariff increase of 50 paise per day to Rs 2.85 per day. But as you can see through the aforementioned table, there has been a consistent month-to-month increase in tariffs, with customers required to pay between Rs 50 and Rs 700 more for the same benefits. The annual plan worth Rs 1,699 now costs Rs 2,398.
And unlike Jio, both Airtel and Vodafone have decided against offering a two-month validity plan, most likely to increase its average revenue per user (ARPU) in the sector.
It’s also worth mentioning that both Airtel and Vodafone Idea now allow their users to make unlimited voice calls, without any restrictions or free talktime conditions in place. They even shared this update via a tweet a few days back.
This means, unlike Jio, these two telcos are letting you make free voice calls on all networks, without charging you for off-network calls (calls terminating on another network).
As you can see in the above chart, Jio is offering more data at lesser money than its competition, and that’s what the telco had promised. Jio’s 1.5GB/day plans start from Rs 199 now, whereas Airtel and Vodafone Idea want their users to pay Rs 248 and 249 per month respectively.
Similar difference in the 2GB and 3GB/day plan as well, with Jio asking for Rs 249 and Rs 349 per month respectively. Now, telcos have also added a two-month validity plan, which only Jio and Airtel are offering. You can get it with 1.5GB or 2GB/day plan, with prices starting from Rs 399 per month for Jio as well as Airtel.
Then you have the three-month validity plan, for which Jio is asking Rs 555 for its 1.5GB/day plan. On the other hand, Airtel and Vodafone Idea have priced their plans at Rs 598 and Rs 599 per month respectively.
And last but not least, users are now going to pay for the annual prepaid plans. The 1.5GB/day plan with 365 days validity from Jio costs Rs 2,199, for Airtel it is Rs 2,398 and Vodafone Idea wants Rs 2,399 from its users.
So, as you can see the tariffs have definitely gone up, but it’s fair to say that even though Jio is charging more than what it used to before, it’s still cheaper than Airtel and Vodafone Idea’s offerings.
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