Airtel Removes Rs 299, Rs 579, Rs 619 and Rs 649 Recharge Plans: Check New Prepaid Options and Prices

Bharti Airtel has revised its prepaid recharge portfolio by discontinuing four popular plans priced at Rs 299, Rs 579, Rs 619 and Rs 649. The telecom operator has introduced higher-priced alternatives for customers, a move that aligns with its strategy of increasing average revenue per user (ARPU) while simplifying its prepaid offerings.

Although Airtel has not announced a blanket tariff hike, users of the discontinued plans may now have to pay between 5% and 16% more, depending on the recharge pack they choose.

Airtel removes Rs 299 prepaid plan

The biggest change affects Airtel's Rs 299 prepaid plan, which has now been withdrawn nationwide.

Customers who previously recharged with this pack will now have the Rs 349 plan as the nearest alternative.

The new Rs 349 prepaid plan offers:

• Validity: 28 days
• Daily data: 2GB per day
• Unlimited voice calls
• Daily SMS benefits (as applicable)

The discontinued Rs 299 plan offered 1.5GB of data per day for the same validity period.

While users now have to spend around 16% more, they also receive an additional 500MB of daily data.

Airtel trims prepaid recharge options

Along with the Rs 299 pack, Airtel has also removed the Rs 579, Rs 619 and Rs 649 prepaid plans, reducing the number of recharge options available across different price segments.

The company has also streamlined its mid-range prepaid portfolio by eliminating certain overlapping plans, making it easier for customers to choose between entry-level and premium data packs.

Currently, Airtel continues to offer:

• Rs 199 plan – 2GB total data with 28-day validity
• Rs 219 plan – 3GB total data with 28-day validity

With fewer recharge options available, users may notice wider price gaps between plans.

Is Airtel increasing prepaid tariffs?

The latest revision does not amount to a nationwide tariff hike across all prepaid plans.

Instead, Airtel has selectively removed specific recharge packs, requiring customers to migrate to higher-priced alternatives if they need similar benefits.

Depending on the plan category, the effective price increase ranges from around 5% to 16%.

This selective approach allows the telecom operator to improve revenue without revising every prepaid plan simultaneously.

Why is Airtel removing these recharge plans?

The move is part of Airtel's long-term strategy to improve its Average Revenue Per User (ARPU), one of the most important financial metrics for telecom operators.

Airtel has consistently maintained that customers with higher data consumption should contribute more, rather than implementing uniform tariff hikes across its entire subscriber base.

By reducing overlapping recharge options and encouraging migration to higher-value plans, the company aims to:

• Increase ARPU
• Simplify its prepaid recharge portfolio
• Differentiate plans based on data consumption
• Improve overall profitability

What does this mean for Airtel customers?

For users of the discontinued recharge packs, the immediate impact is that they will need to choose from the next available plans, many of which come at a higher price.

While some of these alternatives offer additional data and benefits, customers looking to maintain similar recharge costs will now have fewer options than before.

The latest changes reflect Airtel's ongoing focus on premiumisation and higher customer spending rather than an across-the-board increase in prepaid tariffs.