The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) which has extended the channel selection deadline till March 31, 2019, has now asserted that operators should not charge the users more than their current monthly bill under the 'Best-Fit' plan. During the deadline extension meeting that took place on February 11, Trai has come to a decision that every Distribution Platform Operator (DPO) should create a 'Best Fit Plan' based on the current plan of the subscriber. "Trai has clearly asked distribution platform owners (DPOs) to ensure that for consumers, the monthly outgo under the best fit plan should not exceed the payout per month of existing plan of the subscriber," Trai Secretary SK Gupta told PTI. Furthermore, Trai also stated that if it receives any complaint from the users regarding the best-fit plan, strict action would be taken.
Trai Urges DPOs to Create Best-Fit Plans to the Subscribers
As noted, the telecom regulator Trai on Wednesday asserted that operators could not charge TV viewers more than their usual monthly outgo under the 'best-fit plan' to be offered during the transition period, and cautioned that the regulator would take action on any such complaint Gupta said Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is monitoring the situation and will take action on consumer complaints, if any, on the issue.
"Trai has directed DPOs to give the best fit plan to customers who have not exercised their option as of now, in order to protect their interest and ensure that they do not face any inconvenience," Gupta said.
Trai Extends Channel Selection Deadline to March 31, 2019
The regulator had Tuesday extended the timeline for consumers to make their channel preferences till March 31, 2019. Trai had said that the best fit plan should be designed based on consumers' usage pattern and language spoken. The regulator had said that subscribers would be free to change their best fit plan at any date and time on or before March 31, 2019, and the DPO will convert their best fit plan into the desired pack (opted by the consumer) within 72 hours of subscribers making their channel preferences known.
65 Million Cable TV Subscribers Migrated to New Tariff Regime
The new broadcasting tariff regime has created a lot of buzz in recent times as the DTH and Cable TV operators were not able to keep up the promises made by Trai. Still, many users are facing troubles while migrating to the new regime. While the deadline has now extended, Trai earlier confirmed that 65 million users already exercised their options under the new tariff regime that was supposed to become effective on February 1, 2019.
Out of the total 170 million TV viewers in India, 65 million Cable TV and 25 million DTH subscribers have migrated to the new tariff plans introduced by the operators. There are still a lot of subscribers who're facing troubles while migrating to new channel packs. Thankfully, Trai has extended the deadline now giving additional time to the users.
