TRAI Wants To Reduce Your DTH/Cable TV Expenses: This Is How It Will Be Done

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Telecom Regulatory Authority of India or TRAI has finally admitted that the expenses of DTH and Cable TV usage by consumers have increased, under the new cable TV regime.

Now, they want to lower the bills, and help the end user.

For this reason, a new consultation paper will be soon launched, which will seek ways to decrease cable TV expenses.

But, the big question: Should TRAI have any say in determining the cable TV tariffs?

TRAI: We Wish To Lower Cable, DTH Expenses

Effective March 31, 2019, the old cable TV regime expired, and new rules and regulations came into force wherein the consumers had the option of choosing their channels, and only paying for the same.

Now, TRAI has admitted that the new cable TV rules didn’t lower the expenses for the users.

Although they have not admitted it directly, but the very fact that a new consultation paper will be launched to brainstorm ideas for reducing the expenses prove this fact.

A senior unnamed official said, “A consultation paper is in the works on reducing the broadcasting tariffs. We will have to see what kind of mechanism can be adopted to do so,”

Industry players, DTH firms, cable companies and the end-users are expected to share ideas and suggestions to decrease the monthly cable/DTH expenses, under the new regime.

Cable TV Expenses Have Increased: Reports So Far

TRAI has repeatedly claimed that the monthly expenses under the new cable TV regime will reduce, and they even had launched a website to help reduce the expenses by choosing only the channels which a consumer actually wants to watch.

Under the new cable TV rules, users can pay Rs 130 as a base charge for accessing 100 channels, and then individually pay for each channel accessed via bouquets or via standalone fees.

There is a concept of FTA or Free To Air channels, which can be accessed within the 100 channel baseline, and rest are the paid channels.

Rs 19 was designed as the MRP for any channel under any pack/bouquet, and no limit for the premium channels without any pack.

However, various studies done on this new cable regime proved otherwise.

In March, we reported how users are claiming that their monthly expenses for accessing the same TV channels have increased by 80% in some cases. This was a comparison for accessing the same channels which were present before and after the implementation of the new regime.

In February, a Crisil report claimed that cable TV and DTH expenses for users will increase by 25% in the coming days.

Another report had claimed that soon cable and TV users will be required to pay Rs 1500 for accessing TV channels.

TRAI had always denied these reports, but now, the truth has emerged.

We will keep you updated, as more details come in.

Also Read: New Cable TV Rules Triggered These 9 Positive Decisions For The Cable User