Premium shift: Airtel, Jio pull entry-level prepaid plans

After Reliance Jio pulled its ₹249 entry-level prepaid plan from online recharge platforms, Bharti Airtel followed suit on Tuesday and discontinued its own basic plan.

- Jatin Grover [e-mail]

According to company insiders and analysts, the move is largely driven by changing user habits towards higher data packs. But it's also a push by telecom operators to boost average revenue per user, or Arpu, a key telecom industry metric.

The changes in the entry-level plans by the market leaders indicate the possibility of another increase in headline tariffs shortly, analysts said.

For Jio users, the entry-level recharge plan continues to be available through shops and offline partners, but for Airtel users, the plan is being completely shelved, according to people in the know.