Vi Might Increase Tariffs By 15 To 20% In Coming Months: Report

The telecom industry is likely to increase prices by 15 to 20 percent in the coming months due to decreasing subscriber growth, as per a new report by research firm Motilal Oswal. The report highlighted that Vodafone-Idea might be the first one to increase the prices.

Notably, Vi (Vodafone-Idea) has already increased the prices of its family postpaid plans. The operator has raised tariffs of two plans that are now priced at Rs. 649 and Rs. 799. Earlier, these plans are available for Rs. 649 and Rs. 749 respectively. These packs are part of the company's RED Family plans.

The Rs. 649 plan is offering 80GB data, unlimited calling, and 100 messages per month. This plan is also offering two connections. The Rs. 799 plan is providing 120GB data along with three connections. In addition, these plans are offering one year of Amazon Prime, Vi Movies, TV subscription, and Zee5.

Tariff Hike Due To Challenging Economic Scenario

"A price hike, which looked uncertain in the last 6-9 months due to the challenging economic scenario, has started to look imminent with weakening subscriber growth across players. Our recent interactions with industry experts indicate a potential price hike of 15-20 percent in the next two months," Motilal Oswal Financial Services said in a report.

It is worth mentioning that TRAI is also planning to introduce floor pricing for telecom companies. However, the regulator has not issued any timeline to bring regulations on the floor pricing. Meanwhile, CLSA, which is another research firm said that the delay in floor pricing is forcing telecom operators, especially Vi (Vodafone-Idea).

The CLSA firm also beliefs that Airtel is not going to raise tariffs as it has limited plans and it is gaining subscribers every month. Additionally, the average revenue per user of Airtel has been increasing every month.