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Airtel raise its minimum recharge plan for pre-paid users from Rs 23 to Rs 45

Bharti Airtel pre-paid customers will now have to pay Rs 45 instead of Rs 23 as the minimum recharge, company…

Airtel raise its minimum recharge plan for pre-paid users from Rs 23 to Rs 45

Bharti Airtel minimum recharge plan hiked. (Photo: airtel)

Bharti Airtel pre-paid customers will now have to pay Rs 45 instead of Rs 23 as the minimum recharge, company announced on Sunday. The new charges for pre-paid have come into force with immediate effect.

“…it will be mandatory to recharge with a voucher of Rs 45 or above, every 28 days to avail services,” the company said in a public notice.

It further added, “In case of non-recharge with a voucher of ₹45 or above at the end of the tariff validity period, Airtel reserves the right to provide the plan benefits in a curtailed manner at its own discretion during the grace period of 15 days. In case of non-recharge of a voucher with ₹45 or above, all services will be suspended post the grace period.”

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Prior to this latest plan, customers were paying Rs 23 for an additional 28-day validity which only included incoming calls and messages.

Last month Airtel along with Vodafone Idea raised their tariffs as much as 40 per cent. Considering the condition of telecom companies, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) initiated talks to prescribe floor price for call and data, and also deferred by one year the scrapping of the charge paid by mobile phone users for calls made to rival networks.

The two moves came as a big boost to old operators like Airtel and Vodafone Idea that are staring at a liability of thousands of crores in unpaid past statutory dues following a Supreme Court ruling.

The conclusion is likely to draw an increase in call rates and data, it may even reach at Rs 300 per month from about just Rs 125 per month. better revenue realisation per user will offer a much-needed breather to the telecom industry that is in Rs 7.8 lakh crore debt.

As of September end, the company posted crore net loss of a staggering Rs 23,045 due to provisioning of Rs 28,450 crore in the aftermath of the SC ruling on statutory dues.

(With input from agencies)

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