If you are an Airtel user, your monthly expenses are going to increase. Airtel has increased the price of its most popular plan. Making changes to its 84-day validity plans, the company has increased the price of the ₹859 plan to ₹899. Apart from this, the company has completely discontinued the ₹799 plan. This change will have a direct impact on the pockets of the users. There is speculation that this could be the beginning of a major round of tariff increases.
Which plans have become expensive or have been discontinued?
Airtel has made major changes to its prepaid plans falling in the price range of ₹700 to ₹800. Earlier, there were two plans in this segment—priced at ₹799 and ₹859—and both offered a validity of 84 days. These plans gave users the option of 1.5GB or 2GB data per day. Now, the company has removed the ₹799 plan completely, while the price of the ₹859 plan has been increased to ₹899. Following this change, the entry-level plan with 84 days validity now starts at ₹899, leading to a direct increase in user spend.
What is available in the ₹899 plan?
Airtel’s ₹899 ‘Truly Unlimited’ plan gives users unlimited calling, 100 SMS per day and 1.5GB data per day. The validity of this plan is 84 days. When the daily data is exhausted, the internet speed reduces to 64 Kbps. In addition to these core benefits, this plan also includes features like 12 months access to Adobe Express Premium, spam call alerts, and free HelloTunes. However, the cashback rewards that were previously available with the ₹859 plan are no longer included in this new plan, reducing some of the benefits.
What impact will this have on users and the market?
This decision of Airtel will have a direct impact on those users who choose plans with long validity. Now, users will have to spend at least ₹899 to get 84 days validity, which will increase their monthly expenses. Experts believe that this could be the beginning of an increase in tariffs, and soon other plans may also become expensive. Additionally, companies like Jio and Vi may also make similar changes, as telecom operators have a history of updating their plans in collaboration with each other. As a result, mobile users may have to face more expensive recharges in the future.
