New Delhi: Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio on Tuesday said it will increase mobile phone call and data charges in the next few weeks.
The statement came a day after Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea Ltd announced a hike in call and data charges from next month.
Jio, which had stormed the telecom sector with free voice calls and dirt cheap data, had for the first time last month decided to charge phone calls by its users to rival phone networks to compensate for interconnect usage charges.
Jio said telecom regulator TRAI is likely to initiate consultation process for revision in telecom tariffs.
"Like other operators, we will also work with the government and comply with the regulatory regime to strengthen the industry to benefit Indian consumers and take measures including appropriate increase in tariffs in next few weeks in a manner that does not adversely impact data consumption or growth in digital adoption and sustains investments," it said in a statement.
Read more:Vodafone Idea, Airtel to raise mobile services rates from December
The company underlined its commitment to bringing the 40 crore 2G customers to experience and participate fully in the Digital India eco-system, and pledged its full support to providing the best quality and experience to all its customers.
The company did not divulge the extent of price hike in the offing.
Confronted with intense competition and unprecedented statutory dues, older operators Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea had on Monday announced a hike in mobile phone call and data charges from December saying the increase was warranted for viability of their business. Like Jio, the two telcos did not quantify the increase in rates but instead said that the hike will be effective beginning next month.
A TRAI source told PTI earlier on Tuesday that the telecom regulator will wait for operators to report their new tariffs to the authority before taking a view on whether the revised pricing is within the regulatory framework.
