Airtel hikes prepaid tariff by 20 p.c.

NEW DELHI, INDIA: India's largest telecom services company Bharti Airtel has announced a 20 per cent hike in pre-paid tariffs for 'Advantage' and 'Freedom' packs in six circles. The hike is applicable for calls as well as SMS sent within Airtel network.

After the hike, the users of the 'Advantage' pack will now have to pay 60 paise per minute instead of the earlier rate of 50 paise per minute for local and STD calls, and 90 paise for calls to landlines.

On the other hand, those who use the second billing-based 'Freedom' pack will have to pay 1.2 paise per second instead of 1 paisa for local and STD calls on mobile.

Furthermore, for SMSes the tariff will be Re 1 and Rs. 1.5 respectively for local and national. Existing users will have to pay for new rates after the validity of their existing voucher ends.

Justifying the tariff hike, Airtel said in a statement that telecom is probably the only industry where despite increasing inflation, tariffs have been falling unabatedly.

“Continuously declining margins, high 3G & BWA auction prices, constrained spectrum and rural roll out aspirations leave us with little choice but to make some price corrections. We are committed to enhance value for our customers through continued investments in network, technology, customer experience and life enriching services,” it added.