Now Reading: Airtel scraps entry-level Rs 299 prepaid plan, base price rises
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Airtel scraps entry-level Rs 299 prepaid plan, base price rises
Airtel scraps entry-level Rs 299 prepaid plan, base price rises
Bharti Airtel has discontinued its entry-level Rs 299 prepaid plan, along with the Rs 319, Rs 579, Rs 619, and Rs 649 packs. Subscribers seeking daily data must now buy the Rs…
The Story in Brief
Bharti Airtel has discontinued its entry-level Rs 299 prepaid plan, along with the Rs 319, Rs 579, Rs 619, and Rs 649 packs. Subscribers seeking daily data must now buy the Rs 349 plan, which offers 1.5 GB per day and unlimited 5G for 28 days, a 16.7 percent effective increase. The move is not a conventional tariff hike but forces users into a higher minimum spend to drive average revenue per user (ARPU). Airtel India's ARPU rose 5.6 percent to Rs 264 in the June quarter.
Analysts expect rivals Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea to follow suit, though both still offer Rs 299 plans. Airtel's executive vice-chairman Gopal Vittal has called for 'sensible price architecture' in mobile plans. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has warned operators to maintain 4G and 5G plan choices.
The Indian Opinion
Airtel calls this a 'sensible price architecture', not a tariff hike, because the Rs 349 plan gives extra data and unlimited 5G. Yet the minimum monthly outlay for a data user jumped 17 percent. The industry's playbook is consistent: phase out low-end plans quietly, frame it as an upgrade, then watch rivals follow. Jio and Vodafone Idea still offer Rs 299 packs. If they hold the line for three months, Airtel will lose price-sensitive subscribers. The real test is churn data from the September quarter.
Sources (3): livemint.com, telanganatoday.com, timesnownews.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 3 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 3 sources.
