Bharti Airtel on Friday announced a 20 per cent increase in tariffs of its popular Advantage and Freedom pre-paid packs, a move that has drawn sharp reactions from consumer rights groups like Telecom Watchdog.
Users of Bharti Airtel's Advantage pack, based on per minute billing, will now have to pay 60 paise instead of 50 paise per minute for local and STD calls and 90 paise for calls to landlines. Similarly, Re.1 and Rs.1.50 will be charged for local and national SMS. Existing users will have to pay for new rates after the validity of their existing voucher ends. The users of per second billing pack Freedom will be charged 1.20 paise for local and STD calls on mobile.
Let's wait and see how this hike is going to effect the customers...whether they switch to other companies or going to stay with Bharti airtel. I think other companies might sooner or later also hike their rates very soon...
Bharti has increased these tarrifs as part of JND pricing (Just Noticeable Difference). I think it's an experiment by the company done over the large subscriber base using such pre-paid packs.This small differences add big chunk of revenue to the company's kitty.
Arise Awake and Rest Not till the Goal is Achieved.
