The Jio tariff hike everyone expected isn't coming—yet

The company has instead chosen to grow revenue by driving users to consume more data

- Jatin Grover

In the September quarter, Jio's monthly Arpu rose 1.2% to ₹211.4 from ₹208.8 at the end of June.

(REUTERS)

Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, India’s largest telecom operator by market share, has no immediate plan to increase mobile phone tariffs, belying market expectations. Ithasinstead chosen to grow revenue by driving users to consume more data.

Jio and its closest rival Bharti Airtel Ltd recently removed their entry-level plans to bump up their average revenue per user (or Arpu, a key performance metric for telecom operators), triggering expectations that the telecom operators would increase tariffs towards the end of the year or in early 2026.

“We are nudging consumers to consume more and happily pay more, but no immediate plans for the tariff (hike),” said Anshuman Thakur, head of strategy at Reliance Jio Infocomm, during an earnings call with analysts.

In the September quarter, Jio’s monthly Arpu rose 1.2% to ₹211.4 from ₹208.8 at the end of June, with growth slowing due to promotional 5G offers, according to the company.