Receding competition provides prospects for tariff hike: Moody’s

NEW DELHI: The Indian telecom sector currently provides better prospects for rolling out a tariff hike due to receding market competition although weak consumer sentiment amidst the pandemic remains a challenge, said credit rating agency Moody’s Friday.

This comes after Bharti Airtel posted a net profit of Rs 854 crore in the October-December quarter after nine quarters of sequential losses. Gurugram-based telco’s revenues increased 26% to Rs 26,518 crore on-year.

Another industry-wide tariff hike like the one implemented in December 2019, according to Moody’s, is necessary to drive a further substantial improvement in cash flow generation and ultimately debt reduction and leverage.