Airtel, Vodafone-Idea minimum recharge packs

Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea Limited have introduced minimum recharge packs that are designed to increase the average revenue per user (ARPU). The telecom operators have had to re-evaluate plans and pricing in the past with the launch of Reliance Jio and don't mind weeding out 'freeloaders' and focus on those that generate revenue. As a consequence, we may witness a drop in the total subscriber base by up to 60 million users in the coming months.

Vodafone Idea Limited and Bharti Airtel are looking to focus on middle and upper-tier customers, that don't generally switch operators based on plan pricing, according to Sanjiv Bhasin, executive vice president, markets and corporate affairs, IIFL to the Economic Times. The minimum recharge plans are designed to improve the ARPU and the operators don't really mind losing out on customers not generating revenue for them, he added. Also read: Airtel, Vodafone mobile numbers will stop working for 60 million users; new prepaid recharge packs launched

Currently, minimum recharge packs under Rs. 100, such as Rs. 35, Rs. 65 and Rs. 95 come with 28-day validity. Customers who don't perform the minimum recharge will have outgoing calls barred in 30 days while incoming calls will be blocked in 45 days, the report said. The move comes amid telecom operators reporting a loss in revenue and profitability necessitating a course correction.

With the introduction of Reliance Jio in September 2016, subscribers enjoyed unlimited voice calls over LTE network, cheap data plans and pricing. However, this move affected operators such as Airtel, Vodafone, Idea among others. According to Rohan Dhamija, partner and head of India and the Middle East at Analysys Mason to ET, tariffs may soon increase by the third-fourth quarters of FY19.