The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has announced amendments for regulations focused on the DTH (Direct-t0-Home) and broadcasting industry. These new amendments have been introduced to fuel the growth of the broadcasting sector by reducing regulatory mandates and compliance requirements.
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No NCF Ceiling for DPOs
Firstly, the DTH operators don't have to follow the previous NCF (network capacity fee) ceiling of Rs 130 for 200 channels and Rs 160 for more than 200 channels. Now the power has been given to the DPO (Distribution Platform Operator) to charge the kind of NCF it wants from customers based on the number of channels, different regions, different customer classes and more. DPOs will have to mandatorily publish the NCF they are charging from customers and also report the same to TRAI.
DPOs are now allowed to give up to a 45% discount on channel bouquets, earlier this was capped at 15%. This will help them create exciting deals for customers.
"A pay channel available at no subscription fee on the DTH platform of the public service broadcaster has to be declared free-to-air by the broadcaster of the channel for all the addressable distribution platforms also so as to have a level-playing field," has been published by TRAI.
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Interconnection Regulations
TRAI has removed the distinction between HD and SD channels for the purpose of carriage fee. Therefore, DPOs can charge a lower fee from the broadcaster if it wants to. There's a single ceiling for carriage fee set by TRAI.
QOS Regulations
DPOs can now decide the charges for things such as installation and activation, visiting, relocation and temporary suspension which were prescribed earlier under regulation. The DPOs have been asked by the regulatory body to publish the charges for transparency.
Duration/Term/Validity of all prepaid subscriptions to be specified in number of days only for greater clarity to the consumers. DPOs to display respective MRP of the platform service channel in the EPG against each platform service to ensure transparency. DPOs to provide an option of activation/deactivation of any platform service.
