Vodafone, Idea hike prepaid tariffs by 20 p.c

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Following the path of Bharti Airtel, India's largest telecom services company, Vodafone, and Idea have also decided to increase the prepaid tariffs in some zones by about 20 per cent, according to media reports. They have also discontinued 1 paisa/per second plan in some circles.

On July 22, Airtel had announced a 20 per cent hike in prepaid tariffs for 'Advantage' and 'Freedom' packs in six circles. Justifying the tariff hike, Airtel said that telecom was probably the only industry where despite increasing inflation, tariffs have been falling unabatedly.

Reports suggested that Idea has increased rates in five circles, whereas Vodafone hiked the tariff in 12 circles.
Though no official announcement has been made by the operators, Vodafone's websites for some circles like Gujarat say the charge now is 1.2 paise/second. Calls to landlines would cost 1.5 paise/second.

Local SMS charge will be Re 1, whereas national SMS would cost Rs 1.5. Idea also has similar hikes, as per reports.