Cable, DTH Connection Get Cheaper, Revised MRP of A-La-Carte Channels to be Published by 15 January

Cable and DTH connection could cost a lot lesser after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released amendments to Tariff Order, Interconnection Regulations and Quality of Services Regulations of 2017 for Broadcasting and Cable Services sector. The new regulations are expected to come into place on 1 March 2020, and the services expected to get cheaper are multi-TV connections and a-la-carte channels.

“TRAI has decided that in case of a multi-TV home where more than one TV connection is working in a home in the name of one person, will charge a maximum 40 percent of declared Network Capacity Fee (NCF) for second and additional TV connections. Authority has also permitted Distribution Platform Operators (DPOs) to offer discounts on long term subscriptions which is for 6 months or more,” says the new TRAI order.

Furthermore, for the a-la-carte channels TRAI has stated the following:

1. The sum of the a-la-carte rates of the pay channels (MRP) forming part of a bouquet shall in no case exceed one and half times the rate of the bouquet of which such pay channels are a part.
2. The a-la-carte rates of each pay channel (MRP), forming part of a bouquet, shall in no case exceed three times the average rate of a pay channel of the bouquet of which such pay channel is a part.

TRAI has also decided that only those channels, which have an MRP of Rs12 or less will be permitted to be part of the bouquet offered by broadcasters. Broadcasters have been asked to publish revised MRP of a-la-carte channels and bouquets on their website by 15 January 2020 and DPO are required to publish revised DRP of a-la-carte channels and bouquets on their website by 30 January 2020.

“TRAI has examined various provisions in detail and accordingly mandated provision of 200 channels in maximum NCF of Rs.130 excluding taxes per month. In addition, it has also been decided that channels declared mandatory by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting will not be counted in the number of channels in the NCF. DPOs have also been mandated that they will not charge more than Rs.160 per month for giving all channels available on their platform,” says the release from the Authority.