Sunil Mittal Calls for Rs 350 Monthly Mobile Tariffs, Says Current Rates Are Too Low

Sunil Mittal wants mobile tariff hiked to Rs 10-12 per day. (Image Source: iStock)

Bharti Airtel founder and chairman Sunil Mittal has called for higher mobile tariffs in India, suggesting that the average monthly bill should increase to around Rs 350 as telecom operators face mounting infrastructure and operating expenses. He believes the proposed pricing would still leave Indian consumers with some of the most affordable mobile services globally. In an interview with PTI marking the 50th anniversary of Bharti Enterprises, Mittal highlighted the widening gap between the investments required to expand India's telecom networks and the revenues operators generate from customers.

He argued that the industry needs additional financial resources to strengthen connectivity, expand infrastructure and support the growing dependence of businesses and consumers on digital services. However, he did not indicate when the proposed tariff increase could take place.

Mittal said the pricing benchmarks that were considered reasonable a decade ago no longer reflect the industry's current cost structure. Expenses related to energy, salaries, administration and network operations have increased considerably, making higher customer revenues necessary.

“I used to say earlier, the right level is Rs 300 (monthly revenue per user), but that was 10 years back. There's…

Original source: https://www.timesnownews.com/business-economy