Debt-ridden telcos to increase mobile tariffs by 30%

This is any present day mobile consumer's worst fear come true. Burdening debts and unrelenting competition in an ever growing market has led to all major telcos operational in the country to resort to inflated tariffs to get their revenues growing, while still keeping losses in check, reports The Economic Times. Result? Be prepared to see a bill figure higher by 20-30 percent than usual. This isn't the first time such a tariff hike has come into being, but the fact that this one comes closely after a period of slashed tariffs makes it a little difficult to digest. Reportedly, last July, consumers had to deal with pricier mobile bills, after telcos resorted to a 20 percent hike on their tariffs. In a statement provided by a Bharti Airtel spokesperson to ET, it was clear that a 20-30 percent hike is something that all telcos need, in the least to "keep its head above water".

Expect pricier bills (Image credit: Getty Images)

BSNL, Vodafone, Reliance Communications, Uninor, among other telcos are in the plans of going for hiked tariffs. In a quote provided to ET, an executive close to Reliance Communications stated that, "Except the top three, all operators are losing Rs 800-1,000 crore per quarter", and that considering the industry collectively is suffering a 275,000 crore debt, it needs higher charges. In his statement to ET, Uninor MD, Sigve Brekke stated that customers could afford higher tariffs. 

In the recent past, several instances of telcos being accused of several violations, and subsequently being fined for him have been surfacing. These fines, more often than not run into crores of rupees, and looking at the way the market has been currently shaping up, these losses have been causing a huge dent. In his statement to ET, Samaresh Parida, Director, Vodafone stated that, "If the government keeps on trying to extract more from us, we are left with no alternative."