INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel will hike the tariffs from December 3, and Reliance Jio, from December
6
Telecom stocks jumped on Monday after three of India's telecom giants - Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and
Reliance Jio - announced higher tariffs from this month
Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea shares soared as much as 9.82 per cent and 24.30 per cent respectively, whereas shares in Reliance
Industries - the parent company of Reliance Jio Infocomm - rose 4.07 per cent at the strongest level in the morning
Analysts say the higher mobile tariffs will ease some of the pressure on the telecom service providers' balance sheets
Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel have decided to increase the tariffs with effect from December 3, while Reliance Jio will
higher and bundled with 300 per cent more benefits to the customers.The hike in tariff come in the backdrop of record losses reported by
both Bharti Airtel and Vodafone for the quarter ended September 30 due to huge provisions towards dues owed to the telecom department for
companies' appeal against the government's definition of AGR.The DoT and the mobile carriers have been at odds over the definition of AGR
The companies argue that AGR should comprise just revenue accrued from core services, while the DoT says AGR should include all
revenue.Telecom providers in the country pay the telecom department nearly 3-5 per cent of their adjusted gross revenue in usage charges for
spectrum or airwaves and 8 per cent of AGR as licence fees.Additionally, Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel have an outstanding debt of more
21,682 crore is licence fee.
