Bharti Airtel Ltd.

In a blow to customers, Bharti Airtel has increased their call tariff rates by nearly 100%. The company has doubled the call rates from Re 1 per minute to Rs 2 per minute. The substantial increase in rates hints of pricing power returning to the telecom sector, with incumbents likely to have more flexibility going forward.

As per the company, the hike was inevitable and revision in rates is in line with increasing costs. Further towards this development, the plan to hike tariff rates have already been submitted with the telecom regulator TRAI.

Earlier this month, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone hiked tariffs for 2G data services. Airtel revised its 1GB 2G data plan from Rs 100 to Rs 125.