Bharti Airtel Rallies 2% After DoT Imposes Penalty Over Subscriber Verification Violation- Here's Why

The shares of telecom major Bharti Airtel surged 2% to Rs 2,159 apiece in Tuesday's trading session even after facing a penalty from DoT, Andhra Pradesh for alleged violation of subscriber verification norms.

The uptick in the stock price of the Sunil Bharti Mittal led company happened as a result of an upgrade form  BBB-/Positive to BBB/Positive status by S&P Global Ratings.

As per an exchange filing dated November 18, "In terms of License agreement, the Company is required to ensure adequate verification of customers before enrolling them as subscribers and comply with the instructions issued by DoT in this regard. DoT conducts periodic Customer Application Form Audit (‘CAF Audit’) to confirm compliance with the aforesaid licensing terms and conditions."

"Accordingly, DoT conducted sample CAF Audit for June, 2025 and has alleged violation of terms and conditions with respect to the subscriber verification norms under the License Agreement," it read.  

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The stock price of the New-Delhi headquartered telecom services provider surpassed its earlier recorded high of Rs 2,135.75 per share on November 4, 2025. As of 2:44 PM, the BSE Sensex was down 0.13% at 84,839.40 level. 

The telecom stock has bounced back 17% from its last month's low of Rs 1,848.45 apiece on October 3, 2025.

The telcommuincation firm's solid earnings and cash flow is expected to lead the deleveraging over the next 12-24 months. The company's position and market share as a close second in the domestic telcom market will remain solid.

Notably, the global rating agency said the industry will settle into a three-player market focused on improving returns.

The expected growth in the Indian operations stems from expectations of 2% - 4% of annual subscriber additions and average revenue per user (ARPU) growth of 6% - 8% over the same period, resultant from upgrades to higher-priced plans and higher data consumption, according to S&P Global Ratings.