Every DTH User In India Will Need To Complete KYC Process: Tata Sky, Dish, Airtel TV & Others

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India or TRAI wants a big change in the DTH industry in India: Every DTH user, new and existing, will soon be asked to complete their respective KYC or Know Your Customer process.

This can be a massive exercise for the DTH providers, since there are 5.4 crore DTH users in India, and new users are constantly being added.

TRAI Wants KYC For Every DTH User

TRAI has shared their recommendations via document: “KYCof DTH Set Top Boxes”, and shared this with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

As per the recommendations, TRAI wants to mandate KYC process for every DTH user India. TRAI has planned to provide a time-period of 2 years for all DTH operators to complete the KYC exercise.

These recommendations can be discussed further, and the final call will be taken by the Ministry itself.

These recommendations by TRAI has been finalised based on the open house discussions and public opinions received by TRAI.

How Will It Work?

TRAI has recommended that DTH operators such as Dish TV, Tata Sky and others should activate new set-top boxes of only those customers, who have completed the KYC process.

There will be a Customer Application Form(CAF), and the set top box needs to be activated only at the address provided in the Customer Application Form(CAF).

Once this is done, a representative from the DTH firm should visit the address, and then physically verify the customer via OTP sent to the registered mobile number.

If mobile number is not present, then any other ID verification needs to be completed.

TRAI has stressed on the fact that this KYC should be done only once, and not multiple times, since “it will incur huge cost burden to the DTH operators and

inconvenience to the consumers..”

Besides, TRAI has also suggested that location based services need not be activated for the set-top boxes.

Interestingly, compared to 5.4 crore DTH users, there are 8.3 crore cable TV users in India. 

And as of now, there has been no news on the KYC process for cable TV users.

You can find the full text of the recommendations here.

For any clarification/information, please contact Shri Arvind Kumar, Advisor(B&CS) at +91-11-23220209.