Airtel has made a major change to its prepaid lineup in India, silently removing six recharge plans and hiking the price of another. The move comes amid fresh speculation about an upcoming 15% tariff hike, raising questions about whether Airtel is already reshaping its plans ahead of a broader price increase.
We checked the MyAirtel app and website and can confirm the following plans have been removed:
- Rs 299 prepaid recharge plan
- Rs 319 prepaid recharge plan
- Rs 579 prepaid recharge plan
- Rs 619 prepaid recharge plan
- Rs 649 prepaid recharge plan
- Rs 799 prepaid recharge plan
All six plans were previously available but they have been delisted as of today, that is, August 12, 2026. In fact, the Rs 859 prepaid plan now costs Rs 899, bringing a Rs 40 hike.
This confirms that Airtel has removed most of the affordable recharge options previously available for consumers. The most notable deletion is the Rs 299 plan. This was the most popular Airtel recharge plan that offered 1.5 GB per day of data, unlimited calling and 100 SMS per day for 28 days.
However, the Rs 199 and Rs 219 plans are still showing on the website with 28 days' validity, unlimited calling and 100 SMS per day. They offer 2 GB and 3 GB of data, respectively. The only catch is that both plans offer the data limit for the entire plan duration, unlike the per-day data model of the Rs 299 pack.
Overall, the removal of six key prepaid Airtel plans now effectively pushes the cost of keeping an Airtel SIM and connection way higher. In 2025, the operator removed the cheapest Rs 189 plan and hiked the cost of its international roaming pack from Rs 4,000 to Rs 4,999.
This comes after a recent Motilal Oswal report claimed that mobile recharge plans may jump by 15% in the coming months. With Airtel already showing signs of a tariff refresh across its prepaid portfolio, it remains to be seen if Jio and Vodafone Idea (Vi) follow a similar route. Stay tuned for all the updates.
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