Vi is under increased pressure due to a large inactive subscriber base, report shows.
Only 154.7 million of Vi’s 197.2 million reported users are active, leaving over 20% inactive.
This means one in five Vi customers isn’t generating revenue.
Telecom operator Vodafone Idea (Vi) is facing renewed pressure as a significant portion of its mobile user base remains inactive, according to a new report by IIFL Capital.
The analysis shows that only 154.7 million of the company’s 197.2 million reported subscribers are active, meaning more than 20% of Vi’s customers aren’t generating revenue.
1 December 2025
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In simple terms, one in every five Vi users is inactive, citing a troubling sign for a telecom operator already struggling to retain its market position.
The report, based on data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), highlights that Vi lost nearly 20 lakh wireless subscribers in October this year, marking one of its steepest declines in recent months.
This sharp drop comes despite the company rolling out multiple nationwide unlimited data offerings under its Hero, Super Hero, and NonStop Hero plans, which were intended to attract and retain users.
Meanwhile, competitors continue to surge ahead, as in the mobile broadband additions, covering 4G and 5G services, Reliance Jio added 2.7 million new users and Bharti Airtel added 2 million in October.
Vi, in comparison, lost half a million mobile broadband subscribers in the same month.
The trend is also similar when measured by active users as Jio added 3.9 million active customers, Airtel added 2.8 million, while Vi lost 0.4 million after a small uptick the previous month.
IIFL’s findings suggest that Vi’s weak performance metrics, such as average revenue per user (ARPU), voice usage, and data consumption, stem from its smaller pool of active, paying customers rather than deficiencies in user engagement among its actual revenue-generating base.
Vi reported an ARPU of ₹167 for the September quarter, far below Jio’s ₹211.4 and Airtel’s ₹256. Airtel is even targeting a near-term ARPU of ₹300.
However, when adjusting for inactive users and excluding low-revenue machine-to-machine (M2M) SIMs, the report recalculated Vi’s effective ARPU at ₹209, only about 5% lower than Jio’s ₹220.
This suggests that Vi’s true paying users behave similarly to those of its larger rivals, but the company’s real challenge lies in its shrinking and overstated subscriber base.
The report comes at a sensitive moment for Vi, which is currently asking the government to waive a portion of its adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues. The request comes shortly after a recent Supreme Court ruling that allowed the government to review older AGR claims dating back to FY 2016–17.
The telco has urged the Centre to remove penalties, interest, and interest on penalties from its outstanding dues, arguing that a fresh assessment could cut its payable amount by almost half.
As of March 2025, the company’s AGR liabilities stand at more than ₹83,500 crore, putting significant financial strain on the already struggling telecom operator.
