Out of 17 crore TV homes, 9 crore TV homes have currently moved to TRAI’s new regulations for DTH and cable TV channels, which has enabled from 1st February. Out of this, 2.5 crores are DTH homes and 6.5 crores are cable TV homes, R. S. Sharma, Chairman of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, said.
“These 17 crore TV homes include 10 crore cable TV and 7 crore DTH homes. In between these, 9 crore homes have already listed their TV channel choice with the operators, which is actually a big number”, Sharma reported.
TRAI’s new regulations require cable TV and DTH subscribers to select their favorite channels for monthly packs. The rules ha also got customer confused while the selection process or fee structure etc. To handle this situation, the TRAI’s organization has stated it will take up customer outreach and awareness programs via advertisements, social media, and others.
In last week, it simplified that the Network Capacity Fee (NCF) is not compulsory for subscribers who have more than one cable TV connection in a home. The NCF is around Rs. 130/- with 18% GST, which comes about Rs. 153/-.
The new TRAI regulations specially aimed to reduce the monthly TV bill by offering subscribers the freedom to select channels they wish to watch and only pay for selected channels. While various customers have reported a fall in their monthly TV bill, a large number of customers feel it has only increased the bill amount.
According to the CRISIL report, TRAI’s new rule may escalate the monthly cable TV bill, but benefit popular channels and Over the Top (OTT) platforms such as Hotstar, Netflix.
This depends on the assumption that subscriber’s selection for top 10 favorite channels by viewership along with the free-to-air (FTA) channels. The cable TV monthly bill for those who choose up to top 5 channels will decrease.