BENGALURU (Reuters) - Indian telecom operator Bharti Airtel reported fourth-quarter profit below expectations on Tuesday as flat tariffs and higher expenses offset strong subscriber growth.

The country's second-ranked telecom carrier by subscribers said consolidated net profit fell 31% to 20.72 billion rupees ($248.2 million) for the three months to March 31, missing analysts' average estimates of 29.03 billion rupees, as per LSEG data.

($1 = 83.4860 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru; Editing by Sohini Goswami)