Airtel Expects ARPU to Approach Rs 300 After Postpaid Tariff Hike
Bharti Airtel has raised postpaid plan prices by Rs 50, and its CEO says the company's average revenue per user is nearing Rs 300. Because postpaid accounts for only about 8% of Airtel's customer base, the increase will have a limited overall effect. Airtel has also seen stronger postpaid additions, including more than one million users in a recent quarter.
Airtel’s postpaid price increase took effect in early October, so any ARPU lift is expected to appear by the close of the current quarter. The company also plans to upgrade prepaid users to postpaid through Airtel One, formerly Airtel Black, to support medium- and long-term revenue growth.
Airtel’s recent postpaid momentum includes more than one million postpaid user additions in a single quarter, its strongest such quarter. The carrier is also promoting premium features such as Fastlane technology and one free international roaming benefit per SIM each year. Private operators have not raised mobile tariffs for roughly two years.
Postpaid subscribers could see slightly higher monthly bills after the Rs 50 increase, though this group is small relative to Airtel’s overall base. Most prepaid users may remain unaffected for now. If prepaid-to-postpaid migration or broader tariff increases follow, more households could feel pressure on communication budgets. Higher revenue may support network upgrades and premium features, but it could also widen gaps in access to advanced services.