Airtel Rs 99 plan removed from 19 circles, minimum recharge pack price increased

Highlights
  • Airtel has removed the Rs 99 recharge plan from 19 circles across the country.
  • The telecom network has increased the minimum charge pack in some states.
  • Airtel’s subscriber base is on the rise.

Airtel removed the base Rs 99 plan from 17 circles and launched a Rs 155 pack for its customers in Maharastra and Kerala. This suggests that the telecom network is not offering Rs 99 plan in 19 out of 22 circles. This also means that customers will have to pay Rs 155 if they want to keep the SIM card number active. For some reason, the Rs 99 is still available in Kolkata, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. According to a report from CNBC-TV18, Airtel intends to offer better service to customers by offering Rs 155 plan.

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The telecom believes that this pack offers flexibility and superior value. The plan comes with unlimited calls, 300 SMS, and 1GB of data for 24 days. Meanwhile, the Rs 99 offers just 200MB of data and calls at Rs 2.5 paise per minute for 28 days. Notably, the trial of the Rs 155 pack was started back in November 2022.

Airtel Rs 155 recharge pack

Besides these benefits, Airtel’s Rs 155 plan also offers free Wynk Music and Hellotunes benefits. As said, the trial was started in Haryana and Odisha last November and only five percent of customers from both circles are using Airtel services.

Separately, brokerage firm Morgan Stanley expects that Airtel will bring the Rs 155 plan into all circles in the coming months. But says the plans will not make any major difference to its revenue. The firm also notes that Airtel’s revenue might increase by 1.3-1.5 percent. Interestingly, another brokerage firm, Goldman Sachs believes that the telecom networks in India might increase tariffs in the mid of this year.

Airtel 5G Gawahati

Telecom tariffs in India might increase

Both Airtel and Jio are making huge investments in 5G network deployment and are reportedly planning to increase their recharge pack plans. However, Jio might not follow as it is losing its active user base every month. On the other hand, Airtel might remain unaffected by the price hike.

According to an ET report, Airtel added 0.1 million and 0.2 million active users in December 2022 in Haryana and Odisha circles. This is an indication to suggest that Airtel’s subscriber base is on the rise. The report said that Reliance Jio’s active user base increased by 3 million in December, while Airtel has managed to increase by 6 million during the same period.

Currently, Airtel has 365 million users, whereas Jio has 391 million customers in the country. Vodafone-Idea is also planning to offer the same plan to its customers as it is also losing customers and revenue every quarter. The telecom has lost 2.47 million users in December.