What tariff hikes mean for Reliance Jio, Airtel & Vi

Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio Infocomm could gain an extra ₹7,500 crore each in free cash flows (FCF) annually after the latest round of prepaid tariff hikes and keep growing market share at Vodafone Idea’s (Vi) expense, said analysts.
The price hikes are expected to boost Bharti Airtel and Jio’s average revenue per user (ARPU) by ₹25 and ₹20 respectively by March 2022 from ₹153 and ₹144, respectively, reported in the second quarter of the financial year. Vi’s ARPU, by contrast, is estimated to rise by ₹5 to ₹114 by March-end as the cash-strapped telco has been unable to ramp up data networks and push its low-revenue generating feature phone users to go 4G.
On Sunday, Jio too raised prepaid tariffs by 20-21 per cent, effective December 1, following similar price hikes by Bharti Airtel and Vi last week amid efforts to garner more revenue from their customers.