Your Cable TV Expenses Will Come Down As TRAI Wants Variable NCF: What Does This Mean & How Will It Help Users?

Trai is looking to implement the changes it has planned for the broadcasting sector after making several changes in the telecom sector.

How Will Your Cable TV Expenses Come Down?

During April this year, the new tariff regime by Trai became fully effective, but the television subscribers were not seemed to satisfied with these changes. 

Out of these changes, one major change disliked by a lot of users is the Network Capacity Fee (NCF).

As now every DTH/Cable TV connection now comes with mandatory NCF charges of Rs 153 and these go upwards depending on the number of FTA channels you choose. 

It doesn’t end here as the a-la-carte channels were priced on the slightly higher side as compared to the past. 

Considering the issue, now Trai is looking to bring variable NCF charges which will likely make the Cable TV or DTH subscriptions a bit cheaper compared to what users are paying right now.

How Does the New Billing System Under Trai Tariff Regime Work?

As per the reports, in the new Trai tariff regime, one of the major points of focus is the Network Capacity Fee (NCF). 

In simple words, the very essence of the new Trai tariff regime revolves around the NCF charges which the subscribers are charged for the channels. 

It is also important to understand that in the DTH or cable TV bill, which the subscribers pay, the customers pay the bill in two parts – first is the NCF charge and the second is the content charges, which the subscribers pay to the broadcasters for the TV channels. 

Where the NCF charge is the fee paid to the DTH operator or the cable TV operator for carrying the channels, and distribution and this fee has been capped at Rs 130 or Rs 153 inclusive of taxes for 100 channels. 

This translates to no matter how many channels, the subscribers get, they would have to pay Rs 153 per month at least.

What Does Variable NCF Means?

Under the new consultation paper having changes for the new Trai tariff regime, the sector regulator is finding a way to make the NCF more likable for the subscribers. 

Under that consideration, Trai has proposed the bringing of variable NCF. As the name suggests, when implemented, the variable NCF would vary from region to region. 

As per the reports, this is mainly based on the fact that in a particular region, the NCF would be less or more, depending on the user interest and the data available. 

According to Trai, this change is expected to make the NCF more bearable for some of the subscribers, especially if they get less number of channels on their subscription.