Airtel Hikes Postpaid Rentals by About 12 Percent in Delhi NCR

The country's biggest telecom operator Airtel has announced an increase in its postpaid monthly charges by about 12 percent in select plans, effective December in the Delhi NCR region.

"Effective December 3, bill plan rental for your Airtel mobile will be revised from Rs. 199 per month to Rs. 224 per month," Airtel said in a message to its customers.

Industry sources said Airtel has increased rates across low rental plans. When contacted, Airtel spokesperson said "There is only a marginal revision in the monthly rentals of few of our postpaid plans in Delhi-NCR with no change in the plan benefits. We continue to offer excellent value proposition to customers."

Airtel has a mobile subscriber base of over 20 crore customers, which include both prepaid and postpaid users.

Last week, Bharti Airtel had reported nearly three-fold jump in consolidated net profit at Rs. 1,383 crore for the September quarter on growth in mobile data revenues.

This is the second hike in rates of telecom services by the company within a period of three months. In September, the company had increased mobile Internet rates by up to 33 percent and reduced benefit under plans for its prepaid customers.

An increase in telecom services rates has become more frequent since the last two years after a number of players in the market came down following cancellation of mobile licences by the Supreme Court in 2G spectrum case.