New Delhi:Once again the news of inflation is coming to the fore for crores of mobile users across the country. The prices of mobile recharge plans may increase in the year 2026, which is likely to have a direct impact on the pockets of common consumers. According to reports, Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea may increase their prepaid and postpaid tariffs by up to 20 percent.
It is being told that information about increasing the tariff in some selected plans has been given to the concerned authorities. Telecom companies have been making changes in their plans for the last one month. This may have the biggest impact on users using 5G services. It is noteworthy that before this, the last major increase in tariff was in July 2023.
According to the report of the research firm, Indian telecom companies can increase their tariffs by 16 to 20 percent in the year 2026. Its main objective is to increase the average earning per user i.e. ARPU. It has been told in the report that after the tariff hike in July 2024, there is a preparation to increase the prices again after an interval of about two years, which has become a fixed pattern in the telecom sector.
According to estimates shared by user Kranti Kumar on X, Airtel’s 28-day unlimited 5G plan may increase from Rs 319 to Rs 419. At the same time, Jio’s Rs 299 plan with 1.5GB daily data may increase to Rs 359. Apart from this, Jio’s 28-day 5G plan of Rs 349 is likely to increase to Rs 429. This means that every month users may have to spend an additional Rs 80 to 100.
Vodafone Idea (Vi) customers also have little hope of getting relief. According to the report, Vi’s 28-day 1GB daily data plan may increase from Rs 340 to Rs 419. At the same time, the 2GB daily data plan with validity of 56 days can increase from Rs 579 to Rs 699. It is clear from this that the full impact of the tariff hike can be seen on Vi’s mid-range plans also.
Telecom companies do not directly increase the price of the plan every time. Many times the validity of the plan is reduced or the benefits available are reduced. In recent months, Jio, Airtel, Vi and even BSNL have changed the validity and benefits of many of their prepaid plans. The result is that users have to recharge again and again to get the same features and the total expense automatically increases.
