A few months ago, it was quite shocking to see telecom brands raise their tariff prices, and what shocked us, even more, was Reliance Jio raising its tariff prices. However, the hike wasn’t massive and while it did sting, it was bearable. However, looks like Reliance Jio isn’t quite done.

Reuters

Reliance Jio has revealed that it wants to increase the data prices to Rs 20 per GB from the current price of Rs 15 per GB. Jio has suggested the Telecom Regulatory Authority Of India (TRAI) that this elevation in price that the raise in pricing to be gradual over a duration of six months.

Jio has also asked TRAI for a floor price for data prices. As per a recent report by ET, Jio wants the minimum floor price to be raised to Rs 20 per GB in two to three tranches to not shock the consumers -- a 461 percent increase that would increase the data prices across the industry.

Why such a sudden increase in pricing?

In case you were not aware of what’s going on in India’s telecom sector -- it’s not in a good shape, with only Jio making money while Vodafone and Airtel struggle to make money amidst paying their dues of Rs 53,000 crore and Rs 36,000 crore respectively.

According to Jio, this revised floor price will aid the distressed telecom sector. The brand also advises that this revised pricing should be applied across individual as well as corporate segments.

Reuters

With the recent revision in prices, Jio still maintains its position of providing the cheapest tariff across the industry with 4G data speeds. However, Jio still charges its user 60 paise per minute for calling non-Jio numbers -- a tariff that Airtel and Vodafone users don’t charge.

What do you feel about this spike in data prices? Do you think this will help resurrect the Indian telecom industry from the abyss it’s currently fallen in? Let us know in the comments below.