Vodafone Idea or Vi announced tariff hikes on its prepaid plans on Tuesday. The upgraded prepaid plans will go into effect from Thursday, November 25. Users can get access to plans in advance through the telco’s multi-recharge facility. The multi-recharge facility enables users to get recharge on a prepaid plan more than once by paying in advance for it. This way, users can avoid the tariff hikes by at least a few months. Vi noted that the mobile tariff hike will help improve the average revenue per user (ARPU) and “help address financial stress faced by the industry.”

According to a report by Telecom Talk, users can get the multi-recharge facility with unlimited data plans, but it is not clear how many advances recharges a user is allowed to make, but it is likely that the telco allows users to pay for up to three recharges in advance.

Starting November 25, Vi’s base plans will start from Rs 99, offering limited local and STD calls for 28 days alongside 200MB of data. The highest value recharge plan of Rs 2,399 will cost users Rs 2,899 which offers unlimited local, STD, and roaming calls alongside 1.5GB per day and 100 SMS per day.

Airtel has announced tariff hikes on prepaid plans which will go into effect from November 26. The updated prepaid plans are set to get expensive by up to Rs 500 with altered benefits. Notably, none of the upgraded prepaid plans offer 3GB daily data. Airtel noted that it has maintained that its mobile Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) needs to be at Rs 200 and ultimately at Rs 300, to provide a reasonable return on capital that allows for a financially healthy business model. It further noted that the level of ARPU will enable substantial investments required in networks and spectrum. Moreover, the hikes will give Airtel room to roll out 5G in India. Users can opt for annual prepaid plans from Airtel and Vi to avoid tariff hikes as it will save them Rs 500.

Airtel has two annual prepaid plans with 3GB daily data that will give 365 days validity. These plans will come for Rs 1799 and Rs 2999 respectively and will bring with them 24Gb data and 2Gb daily data respectively. These plans will also come with unlimited calling and 100 SMS per day. Vi’s annual prepaid plans will be priced at Rs 1799 and Rs 2899 respectively. The benefits of these plans include 24GB data and 1.5GB daily data respectively, and also unlimited calls, 100 SMS per day and 365 days validity.