Vi shares fall 8% as losses widen and user base shrinks

Mumbai: Shares of (Vi) slumped by nearly 8% on Monday, on the back of telco's widening losses and rapidly falling user base. The operator has allayed concerns of customer exits, pinning them down to SIM consolidation and short-term impact of tariff hikes. The telco said investors have "renewed interest" in the company, post the relief package and estimated another tariff hike in 2022 or at most 2023.

"What we see is recharges slowed down a little bit for a few days and then they start to pick up again. We also see a phenomenon of SIM consolidation that usually takes place in the low-end subscriber base...Some of our subscriber losses can be attributed to this price increase," said Vi's managing director Ravinder Takkar in an analyst call on Monday.

Shares of Vi closed at ₹10.95, down by 7.98% on the BSE on Monday, a day when the markets saw an overall slump as well.