Mumbai, Aug 31: A day after the board of Bharti Airtel approved a Rs 21,000-crore rights issue primarily to fund its dues linked to adjusted gross revenue (AGR), chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal pressed for tariff hike as the only way forward for the telecom industry.
We have done our bit in a limited way, we have run out of patience and we can’t be an outlier all the time,” Mittal said at the company’s investor call on Monday, while reiterating that the company would not shy away from raising tariffs.
The company stock reacted positively on Monday, ending 4.44 per cent up at Rs 620.35 on BSE.
The company had slightly tweaked tariff plans recently without impacting a large chunk of its subscriber base. No telco has initiated any significant rate hike after December 2019.
Indicating a target for a tariff hike, Mittal said the monthly ARPU (average revenue per user) should touch Rs 200 by the end of the current fiscal, projecting a 40 per cent rise from the current Rs 146 a month. Eventually, it should go up to Rs 300 to serve the customers well, he said.
Referring to the recent increase in its minimum prepaid plan from Rs 49 to Rs 79, he said it can go further up to Rs 99. “But when will we be able to do it, we don’t know. We have to depend on market forces and we are observing them carefully,” he added.