What was being feared is proving to be true. As soon as the general elections are over, telecom companies have announced an increase in mobile tariff. On Thursday, the country's largest telecom company Reliance Jio announced a 15 to 25 percent increase in mobile tariff. A day after this, today Bharti Airtel also announced a 10 to 21 percent increase in mobile tariff rates. The increased tariffs will be applicable from July 3, 2024.

After this announcement of the company, both postpaid and prepaid plans will become expensive. Now the cheapest plan of Rs 179 will be available for Rs 199. It offers 28 days validity, unlimited calling and 2 GB data. At the same time, the plan of Rs 265 will be available for Rs 299. It offers unlimited calling and 2 GB data daily with a validity of 28 days. Bharti Mittal-owned Airtel has increased its tariff by an average of less than 70 paise per day. The company's postpaid plan has increased by 10-20 percent. Now the price of the Rs 399 postpaid plan has increased to Rs 449. After Jio and Airtel, now Vodafone Idea is also likely to increase the rate.

Telecom companies have made a big increase in tariff for the first time since November 2021. Its purpose is to increase users on average revenue. Experts say that telecom companies have invested heavily for 5G services. For example, Jio and Airtel have invested more than Rs 2 lakh crore to start 5G services, but till now they have not got a return on this investment. In May, Airtel MD Gopal Vittal had said that a huge increase in tariffs is needed to increase the industry's return on capital employed. Along with mobile tariffs, the tariff of broadband service has also been increased.

Who will benefit the most?
Experts say that telecom operators can monetize their capital investment in 5G by increasing tariffs. There is no possibility of a decline in the number of customers due to the increase in tariffs. He said that as long as they continue to get high speed connectivity, consumers will be ready to pay for telecom services. Bharti Airtel and Jio are expected to benefit the most from the increase in the price of wireless packs. A Mumbai-based brokerage analyst said that Vodafone's customer base has been continuously decreasing, due to which it has lost the benefit of tariff hike and customer upgrades due to low value packs...