NEW DELHI, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Faced with rising debts, government dues and increasing losses over the past several months, two of India's leading telecom service providers -- Airtel and Vodafone-Idea announced to hike tariffs with effect from December.
Though they didn't specify the quantum of tariff hikes, companies sources said the increase could be between 5 and 10 percent.
Telecom tariffs, including for voice calls and Internet, are among the lowest in India worldwide. For around 450 Indian Rupees (approximately 6.50 U.S. dollars) a subscriber can get unlimited domestic voice calls and 1.5 GB data every day for nearly 90 days.
This means a subscriber spends just 5 Indian Rupees per day for 1.5 GB of data and unlimited local voice calls per day.
The two companies sources reportedly said the proposed tariff increase would enable them to invest for network and technology expansion.
"The telecom sector is highly capital intensive with fast changing cycles that require continuing investments. It is therefore extremely important that the industry remains viable to support the vision of Digital India," said a statement issued by Airtel, noting that it would "appropriately increase price offerings" in December.
Vodofone-Idea too issued a separate statement, saying it will suitably increase prices of its tariffs effective from Dec. 1 in a bid to ensure its subscribers the world-class digital experiences.
"There is an acute financial stress in the telecom sector," it added.
Only last week, Vodafone-Idea had posted a loss of 51,000 crore Indian Rupees (around 7.3 billion U.S. dollars) for the quarter July-September.
Both Airtel and Vodafone-Idea have been facing tough financial situations, especially after the country's apex court the Supreme Court of India last month's judgment ordering them to pay up 50,000 crore Indian Rupees (around 7.1 billion U.S. dollars) as government dues within three months.
According to media reports, while Airtel had a total debts of 116,000 crore Indian Rupees (16.6 billion U.S. dollars), the Vodafone-Idea had total debts of 120,000 crore India Rupees (17.1 billion U.S. dollars). The apex court asked Airtel to pay up 21,682 crore Indian Rupees (3.1 billion U.S. dollars), and Vodaofone-Idea was ordered to pay up 28,309 crore Indian Rupees (4 billion U.S. dollars).
