Airtel, Idea hike post-paid data prices by 20% in Delhi - Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular have increased tariffs for their post-paid users by around 20 percent in numerous cities including the national capital.

Few months back, the top three operators - Airtel, Idea and Vodafone had raised pre-paid data tariffs for 2G and 3G services in Delhi by up to 47 percent. However, there has been no change in data charges by Vodafone in the post-paid category in Delhi or any other circles.

As per the information on companies' website, Airtel has hiked data tariffs in Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, UP East and UP West circles; while Idea Cellular has hiked charges in Delhi, Punjab and UP West.

Now, the post-paid customers of the two operators in the above-mentioned circles will have to shell out Rs 300 for 1GB 3G data, against Rs 250 earlier for the same amount of data usage. The hike in pre-paid tariffs in June came in as a result of March spectrum auction in which telcos had paid around Rs 1.1 lakh crore to obtain airwaves.

Idea was the first telecom operator to hike data tariffs, followed by Airtel and Vodafone.

Keeping in mind the cost-effectiveness, telcos have been cutting back on discounts and freebies. Last year, organizations including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea had raised data as well as call tariffs.