RComm announces hike of mobile call tariffs by up to 20 percent

Reliance will increase tariffs on discounted and promotional plans for its pre-paid customers by up to 20 percent and raise headline call tariffs to 1.6 paise every second from 1.5 paise, it said in a statement on Tuesday.

Reliance and its main rivals, including Bharti Airtel Ltd, India's top phone carrier, and the local unit of Vodafone Group Plc, last year raised voice prices for the first time in three years as they continued to cut discounts previously offered to lure customers in a highly-competitive market.

(Also see: Mobile tariffs to rise, discounts reduce in 2014: Vodafone, Airtel)

Carriers have seen the benefits of reduced competition after several smaller rivals were forced by a court order to either shut down or scale back operations.

"We continue to focus on growing profitable/paid minutes on our network and the current tariff hikes are part of our continued efforts to reduce free and discounted minutes, and offset the ever-rising costs of input materials," the company's chief executive officer, Gurdeep Singh, said in the statement.

Indian carriers receive more than 80 percent of their revenue from voice call services.

Airtel on Monday increased mobile services rates of both Internet and calls under certain schemes, giving an indication of next round of tariff hikes in the industry.

The Airtel's website showed similar rates but it nowhere mentioned the date from which new tariff is applicable. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, which monitors mobile tariff at present, does not inform consumers about increase in mobile rates by service providers.

Written with inputs from Reuters and PTI