Technology Desk: Once again a worrying news has emerged for crores of mobile users of the country. There is talk in the market that Reliance Jio and Airtel may increase the prices of mobile tariffs in the coming 3 to 4 months. According to media reports, the tariff increase is estimated to be around 12 to 15 percent. However, till now Jio or Airtel has not made any official announcement regarding the price increase.

Expenses are increasing due to reduction in cheap plans

Mobile recharge has already become a major part of many people's monthly budget. In July 2024, telecom companies had made a big increase in their tariffs. Since then, companies have not made any major official increase, but customers are increasingly getting less cheap options.

Airtel has recently discontinued some low-cost prepaid plans. Due to this, many users now have to choose more expensive plans than before. This means that even without increasing the tariff directly, the mobile expenditure of customers is increasing.

Prices may increase in 3 to 4 months

According to market forecast, if telecom companies increase tariffs again, the increase could be around 12 to 15 percent.

For example, if a plan is currently priced at Rs 500, after a 12 percent increase its price may be around Rs 560. At the same time, if there is a 15 percent increase, the same plan can cost around Rs 575.

This may affect prepaid as well as postpaid customers.

After all, why can companies increase prices?

Many reasons are given for increasing the tariffs of telecom companies. Prominent among these are:

Expenditure on expansion of 5G network
Investing in new networks and technology
cost of spectrum
cost of improving the network
Need to increase average earnings per customer i.e. ARPU
Companies are constantly investing in strengthening their networks and new technology. In such a situation, they also try to earn more.

Questions on profits of Jio and Airtel also

Amidst the discussion about recharge being expensive, the question is also being raised that when big telecom companies are earning good profits, then why is there a need to increase the tariff. Both Jio and Airtel are major companies in the Indian telecom market and their number of customers is quite large. Therefore, even a small increase in their tariffs can have a direct impact on the monthly expenses of crores of customers.

What will be the impact on customers?

If there is an increase of 12 to 15 percent, the biggest impact will be on those who recharge every month or every three months.

Customers with low budget may either have to spend more money or choose plans with less data and fewer features. Long term recharge plans can also be expensive.

Dominance of two big companies in telecom market

The dominance of Jio and Airtel in India's telecom sector is very strong. Other operators like Vodafone Idea and BSNL are also present in the market, but due to the strong position of Jio and Airtel in the private telecom market, there is talk of duopoly in the sector.

Duopoly means a situation where a market is dominated by two big companies. In such a situation, if both the companies increase their tariffs, then customers are left with limited options.

increase not confirmed yet

However, the most important thing is that the 12 to 15 percent tariff increase is just a market estimate at this time. Jio and Airtel have not yet officially confirmed any such increase.

Therefore, customers should wait for the official announcement of the company for now. If the tariff increases, only then will it become clear which plans will be more expensive and how much will be the actual impact on customers.