Your mobile recharge packs could get far more expensive from this date

Urban customers may witness a rise in telecom expenditure from 3.2% to 3.6% while for rural customers there could be a rise from 5.2% to 5.9%.

You may need to pay more for mobile phone recharges after the Lok Sabha elections, a report claimed as telecom firms are preparing for a fourth round of tariff hikes. Brokerage Axis Capital said in a report that a hike of almost 25% is possible by the operators soon owing to competitive environment, necessity to increase profitability after heavy 5G investments and ongoing government support.

Telecom firms are preparing for a fourth round of tariff hikes owing to which recharge packs may cost you more. Details below

The report added that the hike could impact urban and rural users alike- urban customers may witness a rise in telecom expenditure from 3.2% to 3.6% while for rural customers there could be a rise from 5.2% to 5.9%.

Axis Capital estimated that the projected roughly 25% hike in headline rates is expected to correspond to a 16% growth in the average revenue per user (ARPU). This comes after Reliance Jio reported an ARPU of ₹181.7 for the quarter ending March while Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have not yet disclosed their March quarter numbers but their figures are at ₹208 and ₹145 respectively for the October-December 2023 period.

Bharti Airtel’s consolidated Q4 revenue is at ₹37,599 crore, with net profit dropping 31.1% compared to a year ago.