TRAI on Tuesday extended the deadline for DTH and cable TV subscribers to select their channels till March 31 under the new tariff regime. The telecom regulator also said that the subscribers’ old plan would continue till the consumer makes the choice before March 31.
The subscribers who don’t exercise any choice would be migrated to ‘Best Fit Plans’, it added. These plans would be developed as per usage pattern, language, channel popularity. However, the same should not exceed the current monthly tariff plan, TRAI added.
It be noted that TRAI has introduced a new pricing regime where the consumers will have the option to subscribe to individual channels of their choice, and pay only for the channels they want to watch. Earlier, TRAI had mandated all the DTH and cable TV operators to migrate all the customers to the new system by January.
However, following the rollout of the new system, there was a widespread confusion among subscribers, many of whom found their TV bills surging. This happened as in many cases, they ended up selecting and subscribing to way more channels than they wanted.
TRAI’s new plan empowers the consumers to pay for the channels they wish to watch. The base pack is priced at Rs 154 (including GST) and comprises the network fees for 100 channels out of which 25 channels are mandatory Doordarshan channels. TV viewers have a choice among 550 FTA channels and 330 pay channels which include both SD and HD channels.
Recently, TRAI chairman refuted a report by CRISIL according to which the TV watching bills will, in fact, rise by 25% for most subscribers. Agencies
