India’s telecom operators may increase mobile tariffs by 10–12% towards the end of 2025, particularly for mid and high-paying users, according to a report by ET Telecom.
The potential hike follows a sustained rise in active subscribers, with May 2025 marking the fifth consecutive month of net additions. While this indicates user acceptance of previous price increases, analysts cautioned that the last hike in July 2024, which raised base plan rates by 11–23%, already put pressure on consumer retention.
Subscriber Growth Reaches 29-Month High
The report highlighted that 7.4 million active users were added in May, taking the total active base to nearly 1.08 billion — the highest monthly gain in over two years.
- In May, Airtel’s subscriber count increased by 1.3 million, bringing its market share to 36%.
- Reliance Jio added 5.5 million active users in the same month, raising its share to 53%.
An industry executive cited the resurgence of secondary SIMs and user adaptation to earlier hikes as key contributors to this growth. Future subscriber trends are expected to depend more on 5G network expansion and adoption.
Tiered Pricing Likely in Next Tariff Round
Experts suggest the next round of tariff revisions may shift to a tiered pricing structure, with lower data allowances in base plans to encourage data pack upgrades. Differentiated pricing could be based on:
- Data consumption volume
- Access speeds
- Time-of-day usage
- Low-usage behavior
Analysts said this approach may reduce churn among low-end users—already affected by previous hikes—and instead focus on improving revenue from middle and upper-tier customers.
Market Trends and Industry Outlook
The brokerage firm Jefferies said that Jio’s subscriber growth combined with Vodafone Idea’s losses might lead to higher market shares for Jio and Airtel, encouraging selective tariff rises.
BNP Paribas expects the telecom sector to maintain double-digit revenue growth from FY25 to FY27, driven by both price adjustments and upgrades to bundled plans.
In a recent earnings call, Airtel Managing Director Gopal Vittal called for a shift away from the existing one-size-fits-all pricing model, describing it as unsuitable for future user engagement and plan customization.
Although specific timelines are uncertain, analysts expect further pricing reforms to unfold in the coming months.