New Delhi: Vodafone India, which turned profitable for the first time after entering India said on Tuesday that mobile tariffs need to go up as input costs are rising Vodafone India managing director and CEO Marten Pieters said that while on the policy front situation has stabilised due to rational approach of the regulator, still there are some challenges.
“Prices need to go up because the industry had lower prices for 17 years. We increased prices by 6.2 per cent last year, which is far below inflation,” said Mr Pieters. He said that price increase will be less than inflation as operators are increasing their efficiency.
Mr Pieters noted that even though Vodafone’s revenue per minute (RPM) of about 47 paise is among the highest in the country, it would be difficult to increase prices because some of the smaller players that offer very low prices are hesitant to increase rates.
“It’s not so much about us increasing the prices but them bringing prices up, that is what should happen in the industry, which is very good for them, but apparently they are hesitant to do it,” he said.
