Tariff hikes are around the corner for the telecom industry in India. Some will say it is well due as the last hike came back in Dec 2021. The industry people expect the hike to be 20-25%. This would mean, keeping your SIM active will become a costlier affair. In fact, even now, Airtel and Jio have kept a minimum recharge for active validity around Rs 150, which is quite expensive for many low-earning Indians. With a hike expected in the next two to three months, the price can jump from Rs 150 to Rs 180-200 point for users to keep their SIM active.
Read More - Airtel Surpasses 5 Million 5G Users in Maharashtra, Excluding Mumbai
Will this lead to people deactivating their second SIMs? Not necessarily. Analysts don't expect any major SIM consolidation after the upcoming tariff hike. While it happened the last time around when Airtel and Vi lost quite a few subscribers after the hikes, it isn't expected this time around. Most of the high-paying users are with Jio and Airtel, and while Vi is managing both a large number of 2G as well as 4G users. Thus, because of limited options, these users don't have many alternatives to choose from.
Further, users now know what to expect from each telco when tariffs are concerned. So they are going to stick to their telecom operators regardless of how much hike is implemented. Jio is still expected to be the most affordable in the private segment, while Airtel and Vi will play in the premium tariffs segment.
Read More - Jio, Airtel and Vi Rs 299 Prepaid Plans Detailed
As for the second SIMs, a marginal hike won't discourage users from using a second SIM, especially when the hike is coming after a gap of around 3 years. Users are expected to absorb the hike gracefully as the telecom operators are struggling to make healthy cashflows at current tariff levels while their investments are too large.
