After Airtel, Jio, Vodafone Idea hikes tariffs across postpaid, prepaid plans from July 4

Vodafone Idea

Vodafone Idea (Vi) on June 28 announced the launch of new plans for its prepaid and post-paid consumers that will be effective from July 04, becoming the third telecom operator to increase tariffs after Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel.

Vi has hiked the tariffs by 11-24% in various categories and said it is planning significant investments over the next few quarters to further enhance the 4G experience as well as launch of 5G services. All these plans will be available to consumers across all existing touch points and channels

In a statement, the telecom operator said, "In line with its commitment to provide its consumers with simple and comprehensive plans, Vi has curated an optimum range of feature-rich plans to meet the diverse needs of its consumers. Staying true to its philosophy of supporting entry-level users and progressively linking higher prices to increased usage, changes in entry level plans are nominal."

Vi's new pre-paid plan

Pre-paid plans

Vi's new post-paid plans

Vodafone Idea has raised the entry-level plan, minimum recharge value for 28 days of mobile service, by about 11 per cent to Rs 199 from Rs 179. Vi has raised the price of a popular 84-day validity plan with 1.5 GB data per day to Rs 859 from Rs 719 earlier. The company has increased the price of its annual unlimited plan by about 21 per cent to Rs 3,499 from 2,899 at present.

It has made no change in its 365 validity plan with a 24 GB data limit, which costs users Rs 1,799.

"Vi is the only operator offering a range of unmatched benefits to its pre-paid customer by Offering Night Free Data and Weekend Data Roll Over with its ‘Hero Unlimited’ plans and a unique ‘Choose Your Benefit’ option to its Post-Paid customers under its Vi Max Plans," the statement further said.

Earlier, Bharti Airtel on Friday announced a 10-21 per cent hike in prepaid and postpaid mobile tariffs, a day after larger rival Reliance Jio announced an increase in rates. Airtel has been strongly advocating the need for tariff hike in the industry and has time and again flagged the 'absurdly low' levels of rates prevailing in India compared to other parts of the world.

Among the unlimited voice plans, Airtel has raised tariffs in the ballpark range of about 11 per cent, and accordingly rates are revised from Rs 179 to Rs 199; from Rs 455 to Rs 509; and from Rs 1,799 to Rs 1,999.

In the daily data plan category, the Rs 479 plan that comes with a 56-day validity and 1.5GB/day, has been increased to Rs 579 (20.8 per cent hike).

Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel will roll out increased mobile service rates from July 3 onward.