Airtel has discontinued several prepaid plans including one of its most popular, here’s the cheapest unlimited daily data plan now

Airtel has undertaken one of its biggest prepaid portfolio rationalisations in recent years discontinuing several recharge plans including the popular Rs 299 pack. The move effectively raises Airtel’s tariffs by 3%-4% and will support average revenue per user (ARPU) growth in the coming quarters, analysts said. Bharti Airtel reported a 37.3% increase in profit after tax to Rs 8,167 crore in the June quarter, driven by strong growth across its India and Africa operations. Revenue from operations rose 18.3% to Rs 58,539 crore from Rs 49,462.6 crore in the year-ago quarter.

Plans that Airtel has discontinued

The telco withdrew four prepaid plans priced at Rs 299, Rs 579, Rs 619 and Rs 649. The company’s subscribers for the popular Rs 299 plan will now have to opt for the Rs 349 pack, implying a price increase of around 16%. The company has also pulled four of its 1.5GB/day plans, including Rs 319 plan (30-day), Rs 579 (56-day), Rs 619 (69-day) and Rs 799 (77-day) plan; and discontinued 2GB/day plan of Rs 649 (56-day), Rs 619 (69-day) and Rs 799 (77-day) plan; and discontinued 2GB/day plan of Rs 649 (56-day), according to the latest listing on the telco’s website. The Rs 859 plan has been repriced to Rs 899, according to channel checks done by ET.The most significant impact will be felt by users of the Rs 299 plan, which long served as Airtel’s entry-level unlimited 28-day pack, offering 1.5 GB of data per day. With this plan now retired, subscribers must shift to the Rs 349 pack—which offers identical benefits—marking a steep 16% price increase. As a result, the Rs 349 recharge now is Airtel’s cheapest unlimited 28-day daily data prepaid option.Meanwhile, Airtel has also adjusted long-term tariffs, repricing the Rs 859 plan to Rs 899. However, ultra-low-end entry plans, such as the Rs 199 and Rs 219 packs, remain untouched for now.The company has also withdrawn certain 56-day and 90-day prepaid plans that saw relatively low customer adoption, indicating a broader effort to simplify its prepaid portfolio.This rationalisation comes weeks after Airtel introduced its high-speed postpaid Fastlane plan with a focus to drive customer premiumisation and ARPU growth.Shashwat Sharma, MD & CEO, Airtel India, said that the industry’s pricing architecture needs a repair with a data consumption-driven charging mechanism. “I think the pricing architecture will have to repair with charging for data consumption becoming the norm if we are to see this kind of long-term sustainability,” Sharma had said during the company’s recent earnings call. “This is paramount for sustained ARPU growth in the longer term.”

What analysts say on plans discontinued

JM Financial told ET that other telecom companies have not made any changes so far, but are likely to follow Bharti Airtel which removed select entry-level prepaid data plans across 28–60 day validity. The domestic brokerage believes this is not an across-the-board tariff hike. Instead, it is plan modification to push subscribers to upgrade to higher GB and higher ARPU plans (by making Rs 349 28-day 1.5GB/day as its entry-level data plan).The brokerage reportedly pointed to a similar move in August last year, when Airtel had withdrawn its Rs 249 entry level 1GB/day 28-day plan from digital channels. It also had discontinued its Rs 249 24-day plan 1GB/day, making Rs 299 28-day 1GB/day as its entry-level data plan, which has now been discontinued.

The plans discontinued by Airtel