Idea Cellular Hikes Prepaid Tariffs For Existing Customers

The existing prepaid customers of Idea cellular in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh will now be charged 1.3 paisa per second instead of the usual 1.2 paisa per second charged till 31st March. We believe that the same tariff will be implemented in rest of the circles or Pan India in coming days or by next week.

All Idea customers having spent 90 days on Idea’s network would be charged 1.3 paisa per second after the completion of 90 days validity of the introductory tariff of 1 paisa per 2 second active on their prepaid card.

A leading telecom retailer from Bhopal shared on condition of anonymity that all major telecom operators who acquire new customers offer 1 paisa per 2 seconds through the Special Value component, also called the tariff cutter portion, of the First Recharge Voucher for a period of 90 or 180 days. After the completion of these 90 or 180 days from the date of first recharge, operators shifted the users to the tariff of 1.2 paisa per second as base tariff.

All operators including Idea Cellular, Airtel and Vodafone India have been following this practice to avoid inconvenience to the customers and ensure value for money. But since 1st April, the ‘existing customers’ (90 days old) of Idea have been charged 1.3 paisa per second which is an incremental cost of 0.1 paisa per second or approx 8% more from the existing.

When we checked the Idea Cellular’s MP and Chhattisgarh tariff card, Airtel and Vodafone available from the symbolic plan vouchers of Rs. 3, Rs 2 and Rs 7 respectively on the company websites and found out that they are still providing 1.2 paisa per second, while Idea Cellular shows 1.3 paisa per second for all mobile calls (GSM/CDMA -10 Digit numbers) and 1.5 paisa per second for all calls made to fixed line / Landline phone numbers.

What happened earlier :

Earlier, operators had a Single First Recharge Voucher (FR) which helped in activation, offered a talk time balance and a tariff of 1 paisa per 2 seconds or half paisa per second.

TRAI instructed all operators across the country last month to simplify the construct and benefits offered by the First Recharge Vouchers. Idea Cellular, like other operators, broke the FRC into two different vouchers, one being the activation and talktime voucher and the other being the tariff voucher. After the tariff voucher, the customer could enjoy 1 paisa per 2 seconds or half paisa per second for 180 days. If you do not do the tariff recharge, you would remain at the rack rate of Re. 1 per min.

After the completion of 180 days, instead of shifting the customers back to Re 1 per min, operators shifted them to 1.2 paisa per second. Airtel and Vodafone and some other are still doing this.

What Idea has done now

Idea Cellular has introduced a Re 3 voucher which would shift the customer to 1.3 paisa per sec instead of 1.2 paisa (standard industry rate) for Local and STD and 1.5 paisa per sec for Fixed line.While other operators continue to offer 1.2 paisa per sec to customer after 180 days, Idea has started giving 1.3 paisa, therefore more expensive for the mass users.

How do you look at this move from Idea do let us know via comments.

Sudhakar October 14, 2012 at 8:05 pm

To all and telecomtalk :

Look carefully. STD video call is cheaper than STD voice call !!!. Also local video call and local voice call costs the same !!!.

If you bring other state’s SIM and use for outgoing calls within Tamilnadu (local call category), then you will be charged only Rs.1.00 per minute. But if you use IDEA Tamilnadu SIM inside Tamilnadu (home network) for making calls within Tamilnadu, you will be charged Rs.0.02 per second (Rs.1.20 per minute) !!!.

Kaushik Roy April 27, 2012 at 9:05 pm

Airtel hike tariff in kolkata –
Easy recharge of 12 will give all mobile calls 1.3p/s and all landline calls 1.5p/s for 90 days

Sudhakar April 6, 2012 at 10:47 pm

Well said ANUJ.

PD April 6, 2012 at 5:40 pm

@Jan
You too said it. One can understand the ground reality if step on the ground. The reflection of arrogance is clearly visible.

bharathkumar April 6, 2012 at 1:48 pm

V.P.Guru :
Central Government should increase the spectrum fees and license fees to the operators who are all charging more (they are all indirectly against to infrastructure developments, Government is saying that all the concession is only to develope infrastructure. But,..?!?)…

if govt charge increase more.. then they start hike tariff.. then they are increased the tover.. network was good..

Anuj April 6, 2012 at 9:13 am

They have obviously never heard of purchasing price parity, economy of scale and other such concepts.
Why don’t they root for the days when you had to book a land line and wait for 5 years to get a connection? They may also be missing the days when the telephone line got disconnected after a slight drizzle or might be missing the 56.6kbps modem? or are they missing standing in a queue to make an STD call and wait for half rate after 9pm?
Get real!

Sudhakar April 6, 2012 at 7:16 am

Correction :
sat = say

To Telecomtalk :

Please update the image with the screenshot of AIRTEL’s page. You sat that the page has been updated. But what about the tariff hike?. Is it still existing?. What about for Tamilnadu circle?. You are always concentrating on North India circles. Why this kolaveri partiality?.

Jan April 6, 2012 at 5:21 am

varun :

PD :

deb :

varun :

DB :
@kavin
@ KAVIN +1 I agree with you… keep rates MIN 5p/sec ie Rs. 3/min.
Then only will people understand the VALUE of a mobile
>> good.mobile has become device of misuse…marketing calls,unnecessarily chat box,calling during bus travel.bike ride,crossing road,,,this can be reduced only by increasing call rates t0 4p/sec….1.3 p too low.once videocon.uninor leaves wish rates double

+1 million
Hope tariff should go up to 2p/sec not 5p/sec, it will be reasonable. Readers don’t know that in mauritius base tariff is 2p/sec to own net and 5p/sec offnet(there are only two operators there i.e. emtel, cellplus). Hope airtel, vodafone, idea took tariff to 2p/sec for local and 2.5p/sec for std. Then i ill be very happy, people will know the value of mobile calls, then there will be less use of mobile talking on the road, telemarketing calls. I want to say every educated person here that please support hike of tariffs and then use very less of mobile, company will automatically decline. Thanks For reading my thoughts.

R U CRAZY?????????????????????????
U R COMPARING INDIAN ECONOMICAL CONDITIONS WITH MAURITIUS?????????????????
IT IS NOT EXPECTED FROM AN EDUCATED PERSON………..

u said it. mobile telecom is an essential service. Even scavengers use them. Those who make their living on daily earnings and and stay put in the market corners looking for daily engagements recharges with just Rs. 10/- at a time and use it economically. Those who have lavish living opportunities can afford but think of the poor.

Those who are poor don’t make longer n longer calls..got it? they just talk for lets say 5 mins in day n approx 100 mins monthly and they can afford rs120rs/month for these 100 mins.. got my point..now shut ur mouth

“poor don’t make longer calls”….- from where do you get this idea..
they too are human beings and will have to talk to, for longer duration. this tariff hike is the only thing that prevents them from doing so..

deb April 6, 2012 at 2:02 am

Tarun :

Sudhakar :
To telecomtalk :
Visit the IDEA website at http://www.ideacellular.com/wps/portal . Then click GO button in PERSONAL category. Choose the MP circle and see the calling rates. Check my email also.

Buddy dont you see the attached screenshot ?? It looks like after the story coming up in TT Idea has again removed the PV Rs3.

TELECOM TALK KA JAI HO….JUG JUG JIYO TELECOM TALK…….

Tarun April 6, 2012 at 12:39 am

Sudhakar :

To telecomtalk :

Visit the IDEA website at http://www.ideacellular.com/wps/portal . Then click GO button in PERSONAL category. Choose the MP circle and see the calling rates. Check my email also.

Buddy dont you see the attached screenshot ?? It looks like after the story coming up in TT Idea has again removed the PV Rs3.

Sudhakar April 6, 2012 at 12:16 am

To telecomtalk :

Visit the IDEA website at http://www.ideacellular.com/wps/portal . Then click GO button in PERSONAL category. Choose the MP circle and see the calling rates. Check my email also.

Ashish Rana April 5, 2012 at 11:41 pm

varun :

PD :

deb :</strong

varun :

PD :

deb :

varun :

DB :
@kavin
@ KAVIN +1 I agree with you… keep rates MIN 5p/sec ie Rs. 3/min.
Then only will people understand the VALUE of a mobile
>> good.mobile has become device of misuse…marketing calls,unnecessarily chat box,calling during bus travel.bike ride,crossing road,,,this can be reduced only by increasing call rates t0 4p/sec….1.3 p too low.once videocon.uninor leaves wish rates double

+1 million
Hope tariff should go up to 2p/sec not 5p/sec, it will be reasonable. Readers don’t know that in mauritius base tariff is 2p/sec to own net and 5p/sec offnet(there are only two operators there i.e. emtel, cellplus). Hope airtel, vodafone, idea took tariff to 2p/sec for local and 2.5p/sec for std. Then i ill be very happy, people will know the value of mobile calls, then there will be less use of mobile talking on the road, telemarketing calls. I want to say every educated person here that please support hike of tariffs and then use very less of mobile, company will automatically decline. Thanks For reading my thoughts.

R U CRAZY?????????????????????????
U R COMPARING INDIAN ECONOMICAL CONDITIONS WITH MAURITIUS?????????????????
IT IS NOT EXPECTED FROM AN EDUCATED PERSON………..

u said it. mobile telecom is an essential service. Even scavengers use them. Those who make their living on daily earnings and and stay put in the market corners looking for daily engagements recharges with just Rs. 10/- at a time and use it economically. Those who have lavish living opportunities can afford but think of the poor.

Those who are poor don’t make longer n longer calls..got it? they just talk for lets say 5 mins in day n approx 100 mins monthly and they can afford rs120rs/month for these 100 mins.. got my point..now shut ur mouth

u r wrong Mr. Varun …..Poor people also makes longer calls >

varun :

DB :
@kavin
@ KAVIN +1 I agree with you… keep rates MIN 5p/sec ie Rs. 3/min.
Then only will people understand the VALUE of a mobile
>> good.mobile has become device of misuse…marketing calls,unnecessarily chat box,calling during bus travel.bike ride,crossing road,,,this can be reduced only by increasing call rates t0 4p/sec….1.3 p too low.once videocon.uninor leaves wish rates double

+1 million
Hope tariff should go up to 2p/sec not 5p/sec, it will be reasonable. Readers don’t know that in mauritius base tariff is 2p/sec to own net and 5p/sec offnet(there are only two operators there i.e. emtel, cellplus). Hope airtel, vodafone, idea took tariff to 2p/sec for local and 2.5p/sec for std. Then i ill be very happy, people will know the value of mobile calls, then there will be less use of mobile talking on the road, telemarketing calls. I want to say every educated person here that please support hike of tariffs and then use very less of mobile, company will automatically decline. Thanks For reading my thoughts.

R U CRAZY?????????????????????????
U R COMPARING INDIAN ECONOMICAL CONDITIONS WITH MAURITIUS?????????????????
IT IS NOT EXPECTED FROM AN EDUCATED PERSON………..

u said it. mobile telecom is an essential service. Even scavengers use them. Those who make their living on daily earnings and and stay put in the market corners looking for daily engagements recharges with just Rs. 10/- at a time and use it economically. Those who have lavish living opportunities can afford but think of the poor.

Those who are poor don’t make longer n longer calls..got it? they just talk for lets say 5 mins in day n approx 100 mins monthly and they can afford rs120rs/month for these 100 mins.. got my point..

SRINIVAS April 5, 2012 at 9:09 pm

sometimes i think Raja was a good telecom minister, at least during his tenure mobile call rates were low

varun April 5, 2012 at 9:04 pm

PD :

deb :

varun :

DB :
@kavin
@ KAVIN +1 I agree with you… keep rates MIN 5p/sec ie Rs. 3/min.
Then only will people understand the VALUE of a mobile
>> good.mobile has become device of misuse…marketing calls,unnecessarily chat box,calling during bus travel.bike ride,crossing road,,,this can be reduced only by increasing call rates t0 4p/sec….1.3 p too low.once videocon.uninor leaves wish rates double

+1 million
Hope tariff should go up to 2p/sec not 5p/sec, it will be reasonable. Readers don’t know that in mauritius base tariff is 2p/sec to own net and 5p/sec offnet(there are only two operators there i.e. emtel, cellplus). Hope airtel, vodafone, idea took tariff to 2p/sec for local and 2.5p/sec for std. Then i ill be very happy, people will know the value of mobile calls, then there will be less use of mobile talking on the road, telemarketing calls. I want to say every educated person here that please support hike of tariffs and then use very less of mobile, company will automatically decline. Thanks For reading my thoughts.

R U CRAZY?????????????????????????
U R COMPARING INDIAN ECONOMICAL CONDITIONS WITH MAURITIUS?????????????????
IT IS NOT EXPECTED FROM AN EDUCATED PERSON………..

u said it. mobile telecom is an essential service. Even scavengers use them. Those who make their living on daily earnings and and stay put in the market corners looking for daily engagements recharges with just Rs. 10/- at a time and use it economically. Those who have lavish living opportunities can afford but think of the poor.

Those who are poor don’t make longer n longer calls..got it? they just talk for lets say 5 mins in day n approx 100 mins monthly and they can afford rs120rs/month for these 100 mins.. got my point..now shut ur mouth

PD April 5, 2012 at 8:28 pm

deb :

varun :

DB :
@kavin
@ KAVIN +1 I agree with you… keep rates MIN 5p/sec ie Rs. 3/min.
Then only will people understand the VALUE of a mobile
>> good.mobile has become device of misuse…marketing calls,unnecessarily chat box,calling during bus travel.bike ride,crossing road,,,this can be reduced only by increasing call rates t0 4p/sec….1.3 p too low.once videocon.uninor leaves wish rates double

+1 million
Hope tariff should go up to 2p/sec not 5p/sec, it will be reasonable. Readers don’t know that in mauritius base tariff is 2p/sec to own net and 5p/sec offnet(there are only two operators there i.e. emtel, cellplus). Hope airtel, vodafone, idea took tariff to 2p/sec for local and 2.5p/sec for std. Then i ill be very happy, people will know the value of mobile calls, then there will be less use of mobile talking on the road, telemarketing calls. I want to say every educated person here that please support hike of tariffs and then use very less of mobile, company will automatically decline. Thanks For reading my thoughts.

R U CRAZY?????????????????????????
U R COMPARING INDIAN ECONOMICAL CONDITIONS WITH MAURITIUS?????????????????
IT IS NOT EXPECTED FROM AN EDUCATED PERSON………..

u said it. mobile telecom is an essential service. Even scavengers use them. Those who make their living on daily earnings and and stay put in the market corners looking for daily engagements recharges with just Rs.10/- at a time and use it economically. Those who have lavish living opportunities can afford but think of the poor.

vijay April 5, 2012 at 4:25 pm

I think TRAI’S new restrictions on Topups made the companies to shed their revenue , So they collecting it directly through tariff hike !
IDEA u r the follower of AIRTEL in max subscribers. So while increasing ur tariff u may lose ur subscribers to AIRTEL if AIRTEL’S tariff remains unchanged !

sAM April 5, 2012 at 1:17 pm

@deb

Absolutely true…

Hope Airtel/Voda/Idea increase call rates to 5p/sec n Reliance/TATA/Aircel stick to their 1p/sec.Then all of us would port into d latter 3. That will b a very very good sitn indeed.

Yeh India hain boss !!

Arun April 5, 2012 at 12:59 pm

@deb
yes u tell the correct.Also look population and subscribers figure between india and mauritus

varun April 5, 2012 at 12:52 pm

If u dont believe me check this please, emtel-ltd.com/prepaid.php?category=6 call charges in mauritius for on-net and off-net, my sister is paying these hefty amount and do u also know that for every 100INR they get 60 mauritiun rupees only, so it will make more costly then india, as indian rupees are converted into mauritiun rupees. First get some knowledge then comment

ashokumar April 5, 2012 at 12:51 pm

Soon all other operators will follow ….

Jagan T April 5, 2012 at 12:26 pm

varun :

it will be reasonable. ——- readers don’t know that

Sorry dude. pl look into ur words in the public forum.

KRISH April 5, 2012 at 12:25 pm

NO ONE CAN BEAT BSNL…1P/SEC ON NET. 1.2P/SEC OFFNET.

deb April 5, 2012 at 12:21 pm

varun :

DB :
@kavin
@ KAVIN +1 I agree with you… keep rates MIN 5p/sec ie Rs. 3/min.
Then only will people understand the VALUE of a mobile
>> good.mobile has become device of misuse…marketing calls,unnecessarily chat box,calling during bus travel.bike ride,crossing road,,,this can be reduced only by increasing call rates t0 4p/sec….1.3 p too low.once videocon.uninor leaves wish rates double

+1 million
Hope tariff should go up to 2p/sec not 5p/sec, it will be reasonable. Readers don’t know that in mauritius base tariff is 2p/sec to own net and 5p/sec offnet(there are only two operators there i.e. emtel, cellplus). Hope airtel, vodafone, idea took tariff to 2p/sec for local and 2.5p/sec for std. Then i ill be very happy, people will know the value of mobile calls, then there will be less use of mobile talking on the road, telemarketing calls. I want to say every educated person here that please support hike of tariffs and then use very less of mobile, company will automatically decline. Thanks For reading my thoughts.

R U CRAZY?????????????????????????
U R COMPARING INDIAN ECONOMICAL CONDITIONS WITH MAURITIUS?????????????????
IT IS NOT EXPECTED FROM AN EDUCATED PERSON………..

varun April 5, 2012 at 11:35 am

DB :
@kavin
@ KAVIN +1 I agree with you… keep rates MIN 5p/sec ie Rs. 3/min.
Then only will people understand the VALUE of a mobile
>> good.mobile has become device of misuse…marketing calls,unnecessarily chat box,calling during bus travel.bike ride,crossing road,,,this can be reduced only by increasing call rates t0 4p/sec….1.3 p too low.once videocon.uninor leaves wish rates double

+1 million
Hope tariff should go up to 2p/sec not 5p/sec, it will be reasonable. Readers don’t know that in mauritius base tariff is 2p/sec to own net and 5p/sec offnet(there are only two operators there i.e. emtel, cellplus). Hope airtel, vodafone, idea took tariff to 2p/sec for local and 2.5p/sec for std. Then i ill be very happy, people will know the value of mobile calls, then there will be less use of mobile talking on the road, telemarketing calls. I want to say every educated person here that please support hike of tariffs and then use very less of mobile, company will automatically decline. Thanks For reading my thoughts.

Star PCO April 5, 2012 at 11:11 am

In here upeast aircel is charging only 1p/sec for lifetime, for any network in india. And also With RC11 local a-a @10p/min and all others local call 30p/min for 30days validity.

DB April 5, 2012 at 11:01 am

@kavin
@ KAVIN +1 I agree with you… keep rates MIN 5p/sec ie Rs 3/min.
Then only will people understand the VALUE of a mobile

>> good.mobile has become device of misuse…marketing calls,unnecessarily chat box,calling during bus travel.bike ride,crossing road,,,this can be reduced only by increasing call rates t0 4p/sec….1.3 p too low.once videocon.uninor leaves wish rates double

dhirendra April 5, 2012 at 10:40 am

This new move by idea is confirming the fact that that the tariff hike will not stop here. Call rates will increase further.
We should also keep in mind that while idea is increasing its tariff, other telecom operators will also follow them. So I think we should be ready for further tariff hike.

Gurpreet April 5, 2012 at 10:32 am

BSNL is Best.no hidden charges,no traps

sai kiran April 5, 2012 at 10:20 am

@jagan
you are absolutely right jagan

ankush khajuria April 5, 2012 at 10:09 am

Gaurav :
EAST or WEST BSNL is the BEST.

Arora April 5, 2012 at 9:12 am

NO IDEA ,SO DONT GET AN IDEA…

AN IDEA CAN CHANGE UR TARIFF……(NOT LIFE)…

jagan April 5, 2012 at 8:52 am

IDEA………..
NOW EVERYONE’S IDEA WILL BE SWITCHING OVER TO OTHER NETWORKS !

Vinayak Pai April 5, 2012 at 7:39 am

Is this not violative of TRAI’s recent guidelines??????

Deepak April 5, 2012 at 7:22 am

EAst or west Aircel is the best loc call rate and high beniffite india best network telecom..1paisa 2second call rate…

Gaurav April 5, 2012 at 12:12 am

EAST or WEST BSNL is the BEST.

ved April 4, 2012 at 11:29 pm

Bye bye idea …..now no idea only Reliance (for unlimited) or Airtel (better coverage) …………gudbye idea….

Tiju April 4, 2012 at 11:26 pm

idea looking for customers from heaven and hell. All offers only for customers from these circles

Raghu April 4, 2012 at 11:25 pm

too bad Sirji. i do not know why Idea is going on increasing the rates.

Ravi Shekhar April 4, 2012 at 10:57 pm

Tariff is directly proportional to coverage and quality of services in almost all telecom circles.

kavin April 4, 2012 at 10:51 pm

good.mobile has become device of misuse…marketing calls,unnecessarily chat box,calling during bus travel.bike ride,crossing road,,,this can be reduced only by increasing call rates t0 4p/sec….1.3 p too low.once videocon.uninor leaves wish rates double

akhilesh April 4, 2012 at 10:40 pm

indian tel. opraters going back same as year 2004-05

again “very bad idea Sir ji”
do’t fly in the sky
bcoz u know why

V.P.Guru April 4, 2012 at 10:30 pm

Central Government should increase the spectrum fees and license fees to the operators who are all charging more (they are all indirectly against to infrastructure developments, Government is saying that all the concession is only to develope infrastructure. But,..?!?)…

Chirag April 4, 2012 at 10:25 pm

Cartelisation…! Can any one break Airtel, Vodafone, Idea cartelisation?

hj91 April 4, 2012 at 9:36 pm

these tarrifs have gotten more and more crazy. we are back in dark days of 2004 where rates were 2.40 per minute.

direct April 4, 2012 at 9:32 pm

Kanaga Deepan N :
Why NOT directly going to 1.5p/sec or 2p/sec…. It will be very very confusing with 1.3p/sec

kangana Teri sanu Kate ishare.;)

Prudhvi April 4, 2012 at 9:26 pm

this is a bad move and this’ll help other operators to do the same.I believe that the telecom operators are making common more bitter life

AsitPaul April 4, 2012 at 9:22 pm

Idea is giving 1p/sec in Tripura while others are giving 1.2p/sec. Idea have very low customer base in North-East!

Ajay April 4, 2012 at 9:04 pm

Already MTNL Mumbai stopped sale of unlimited 3g, they also reduce the top up talktime i.e. Rs 100 pe 95 & 125 pe 130 before that was 100 pe 100 & 125 pe 140. Central govt budget (increase in service tax) killed mobile subscribers.

Kanaga Deepan N April 4, 2012 at 8:16 pm

Why NOT directly going to 1.5p/sec or 2p/sec…. It will be very very confusing with 1.3p/sec

sAM April 4, 2012 at 8:14 pm

All companies will follow soon & tariff will further increase..

I think companies today are increasing the tariffs so that customers opt for different STV s to call at cheaper rates. Thereby companies will benefit from these..

Steve April 4, 2012 at 8:08 pm