Airtel Quietly Hikes Its 1.5GB/Day Plan to ₹899 and Kills Off the ₹859 Option

Bharti Airtel executed a stealth tariff hike in April 2026, raising its popular 1.5GB/day prepaid plan from ₹799 directly to ₹899. To ensure users have nowhere else to hide within the portfolio, the telecom operator also completely wiped the ₹859 recharge option from its platform. This ₹100 price jump represents a blatant push to inflate Average Revenue Per User (ARPU), directly punishing loyal subscribers who rely on long-term data packs for basic internet access.

What Airtel Changed in April 2026

Bharti Airtel increased the price of its long-term 1.5GB/day prepaid recharge plan from ₹799 to ₹899 across all telecom circles. The core benefits remain identical to the older pricing – you still get 1.5GB of daily 4G/5G data, unlimited voice calls, and 100 daily SMS. The only hardware difference is the ₹100 premium forcefully extracted from your wallet. Airtel applied this change directly to the Airtel Thanks app and third-party payment platforms like PhonePe and Google Pay without any prior public announcement or SMS alerts to active subscribers.

Death of the ₹859 Plan

Airtel officially removed the ₹859 prepaid recharge option from its portfolio, eliminating a crucial middle-ground tier for daily data users. Previously, the ₹859 plan served as a fallback for subscribers needing extended validity without crossing the psychological ₹900 barrier. By killing this specific SKU, Airtel forces buyers into a binary choice: either downgrade your usage to a heavily restricted short-term pack or surrender to the new ₹899 pricing matrix.

What This Means for Indian Consumers

The ₹100 price hike on Airtel’s 1.5GB/day plan directly inflates the yearly telecommunication expenses for millions of Indian middle-class prepaid users. A ₹899 recharge pushes the daily cost of connectivity significantly higher, arriving at a time when consumers are already fighting inflation and EMI obligations. Furthermore, with Reliance Jio currently mirroring these ARPU-boosting tactics across the industry, porting your number to a rival network no longer offers the financial escape it did in previous years. The telecom duopoly is flexing its pricing power, and the Indian consumer is footing the bill.

PFD Verdict

Airtel forced a flat ₹100 price increase on its 1.5GB/day prepaid plan while completely erasing the ₹859 alternative to block users from downgrading. Expect Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea to evaluate an identical price floor adjustment within the quarter as the telecom sector continues to prioritize ARPU over affordability.

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