A few years back, Reliance Jio announced its JioPhone for Indian users. JioPhone is an affordable feature phone that is currently used by many new phone users or elderly people in India. The phone can only be used with a Jio SIM card, and specifically for the JioPhone, some cheaper plans were released. However, the cheaper Jio plan is no longer cheap, as the company has increased the tariff by 20 percent. Also Read – Jio, BP to set up EV charging, battery swapping stations in 12 cities in India
JioPhone tariff hiked by 20 percent
Initially, all JioPhone tariffs were offered at one introductory price. But, reportedly, the introductory offer has ended and the prices have been increased by 20 percent. The change in price is also visible on the company’s website. Also read- JioPhone users will now have to pay Rs 150 for an annual prepaid plan: Know more
Also Read – Airtel, Jio to set up over 4,779 4G mobile towers in India’s untouched villages
Rupee. 155 JioPhone plan now priced at Rs. 186 offers a validity of 28 days. Rupee. 185 plan has now been increased to Rs. 222 offers the same validity of 28 days. Premium plan of Rs. 748, which offers a validity of around one year, i.e. 336 days, is now priced at Rs. 899.
It is worth noting that Reliance Jio has been increasing the prices of its regular recharge plans as well. In fact, another telco player Bharti Airtel also introduced its own recharge plans. Both have increased the tariff of prepaid plans by up to 25 percent. This is to boost their Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) to stay in the market.
In the past, with these tariff hikes, both the telcos have seen loss of subscribers. However, these customers were from the lower end of the spectrum, that is, those with lower monthly expenses. That said, they do not contribute to the ARPU of any company.
For Jio in particular, it was reported that it will not lose many customers as its tariffs are still lower than competition like Bharti Airtel and Vi.
Jio cuts ARPU by 10.6 percent to Rs. has seen steady growth. 168 in March this year. Bharti Airtel posted the highest ARPU of Rs. 178 of all top telecom companies.