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• Airtel has discontinued some popular prepaid recharge plans.
• With the removal of the Rs 299 recharge option, customers will have to look for alternatives.
• Customers who use data daily may have to pay relatively more.

Airtel Prepaid Plans: Mobile recharge costs have already become a significant part of many people's budgets. Just like that AirtelA new change has come up for the customers of . The company has discontinued some of its popular prepaid recharge plans. So customers who use daily internet data with less money will now have to choose another option.

Interestingly, the Rs 299 recharge in discontinued plans was convenient for many. After removing this option, customers who need data on a daily basis may have to pay a relatively higher price. Airtel Recharge Hike:

The Rs 299 plan is no more

Along with Rs 299, plans of Rs 579, 619 and 649 have also been removed from Airtel's portfolio. The Rs 299 option was particularly popular as it offered 28 days validity and 1.5 GB data per day.

Now a Rs 349 plan is available as an option to such customers. This plan offers 2 GB data per day for 28 days. That means even though the data has increased, one has to pay Rs 50 more out of pocket for recharge.

For those who need to use the internet within a certain limit per month, this extra amount can be important. On the other hand, heavy data users are likely to find the new option beneficial.

Cheaper options haven't completely disappeared

Not all low cost recharges have been removed. Airtel still has some relatively low-cost options.

The Rs 199 plan offers 2 GB data for 28 days, while the Rs 219 option offers 3 GB data for 28 days. So customers who have low internet usage can consider these plans.

That means there are separate options for customers who use large amounts of data every day, while those who use the internet occasionally can make do with low-cost plans.

What exactly is the purpose of the company?

It cannot simply be said that Airtel has only increased the recharge prices. This change in the company's plan structure is being seen to shift customers towards higher priced plans.

Average revenue per customer is important for telecom companies. This figure of Airtel is currently around Rs. 264 as seen from the financial report of the company. The company aims to take this level beyond Rs 300 in the future.

The financial performance of the company has also been strong. Airtel's consolidated revenue rose 5.7 percent to Rs 58,539 crore in the June quarter. EBITDA also grew by 4.8 percent.

What should consumers do now?

Customers whose recharge fits into a fixed budget every month will now have to pay a little more attention while choosing a plan. Rather than just looking at the price, it will be important to look at how much data is needed, what is the validity and how much is the calling requirement.

It will be important to see if the impact of Airtel's decision remains limited to the company itself or if other telecom companies also change their plans in the same way.

However, one thing is clear for Airtel customers at present. The daily data plan which was previously priced at Rs 299 is no longer available in the same format. So it would be beneficial for the customers to compare the available plans before doing the next recharge.