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Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea could raise mobile tariffs by 12 to 15 percent over the next three to four months, according to a Centrum Institutional Research report, driven by market consolidation, rising ARPU expectations and continued 5G investment.

India's three private telecom operators, Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, could raise mobile tariffs by 12 to 15 percent over the next three to four months, according to a preview report on the telecom and internet sector by Centrum Institutional Research. The brokerage's Q1FY27 sector note points to a combination of market consolidation, sustained 5G investment and a favourable pricing environment as the key drivers behind the anticipated increase, which would mark the first industry-wide hike in about two years.

Why the hike is being anticipated?

Centrum said the pricing environment has become more favourable with only '3+1 players' in the market and that it expects another 12 to 15 percent tariff hike over the next three to four months. The '3+1' reference is to Jio, Airtel and Vi as the three private operators, alongside state-run BSNL, a market structure that has left the private players with considerably more pricing power than in the hyper-competitive years that followed Jio's 2016 entry into the sector.

The brokerage has also flagged that average revenue per user, a key profitability metric for telecom operators, is expected to rise modestly even before any formal tariff hike is announced.