Jio says, will be compliant with regulation on tariff

A day after Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea announced their decision to increase tariffs, Reliance Jio on Tuesday said that it will increase telecom service charges in the next few weeks in compliance with the regulations and in a way that data consumption and digital adoption are not impacted.

The company in a statement said that it would carry out an "appropriate" increase in tariffs, which "does not adversely impact data consumption or growth in digital adoption and sustains investments."

The telecom major also siad that Jio will do whatever the regulations provide and it is interested in growth of data consumption and ensuring all 2G users migrate to 4G.

According to the company, Jio believes that price increase should be done in a manner to meet the compliance with regulation while still giving value to the consumers.

"Like other operators, we will also work with the government and comply with the regulatory regime to strengthen the industry to benefit Indian consumers and take measures, including appropriate increase in tariffs in the next few weeks in a manner that does not adversely impact data consumption or growth in digital adoption and sustains investments," it said.

Once Jio hikes tariffs, there will be parity among the operators. It is now turning into an all-out tariff competition, making the three-year honeymoon period of Indian customers with cheap or free data a thing of the past.

Bharti Airtel and Vodafone-Idea Ltd on Monday announced plans to increase tariffs for customers from December 1. Both the players reported massive losses in the quarter ending September 2019, with their combined losses standing at Rs 74,000 crore.

Vodafone Idea has also highlighted how mobile data charges in India are by far the cheapest in the world, even as demand for mobile data continues to grow.

( With inputs from IANS )