Bharti Airtel gains on hiking minimum recharge for prepaid users

Bharti Airtel rose 1.36% to Rs 461.50 after the media reported that the telecom major raised the minimum monthly recharge for prepaid users to Rs 45 with immediate effect from Sunday.

According to media reports, it will be mandatory to recharge with a voucher of Rs 45 or above every 28 days to avail services. Prior to this Rs 45 plan, consumers could get an additional 28-day validity through a recharge of Rs 23 which included only incoming calls and messages.

Last month, the company had reportedly hiked its telecom tariffs by as much as 40%. The said tariff hike came in the wake of the unfavorable Supreme Court verdict in the AGR dues case contested by the telecom companies against the department of telecommunications on the definition of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) in the sector.

Bharti Airtel had to set aside Rs 34,260 crore in the September quarter after the Supreme Court upheld the government's definition of revenue, based on which telecom companies would have to pay levies.

Consequently, Bharti Airtel reported a consolidated net loss (excluding extraordinary items) of Rs 23,044.90 crore in Q2 September 2019 compared with a net profit of Rs 118.80 crore in Q2 September 2018. Net sales rose 4.9% to Rs 21,131 crore in Q2 September 2019 from Rs 20,147.80 crore in Q2 September 2018.

Bharti Airtel is a global telecommunications company with operations in 17 countries across Asia and Africa.

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