Tata Sky, Airtel Digital TV and Others Tell Trai to Brush Off Discount Cap on Channel Bouquets

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has been floating new consultation paper for both the DTH and the telecom industry in the past few weeks. A few days back, the sector regulator had introduced a new consultation paper on ‘Tariff related for broadcasting and cable services’. The paper was open for comments by the industry stakeholders and experts, and now the comments have come pouring in on the new consultation paper from the DTH operators. The different DTH operators have had different views on the tariff related matters of the DTH and cable TV service industry. Here is what the DTH operators commented over the new Trai consultation paper.

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Comments by Dish TV on New Consultation Paper

As per Dish TV, the acceptance towards a-la-carte channels has not been substantial even after 8 months of implementation of the new Trai tariff regime. The DTH operator also added that there is little connection between the prices of the bouquets and the constituent channels because of the non-implementation of the discount cap which Trai has discussed to be set at 15%. As per Dish TV, to stop the broadcasters from excessively pushing the channel bouquets, there should be a linkage between the channel packs pricing and the individual channels. If done, this would propel the broadcasters to bring on reasonable pricing for the channel bouquets as they are competitively priced and further, it would also enable the customers to choose individual channels. This news was first reported by Indian Television.

Trai Asked to Consider Rs 130 NCF Cap

There was also the issue of NCF cap of Rs 130 which has been set by the sector regulator. As per the DTH operators, with many expenses like entry fee, 10% annual license fee, annual NOCC charges, annual WPC charges, and annual satellite charges, the Rs 130 NCF is not enough for these operators. The comments also highlighted that Trai should also look at inflation based hike since it has been more than two and a half year since this NCF price was mandated by the regulator. Trai had admitted itself that it would take a look again at the NCF pricing in a span of two years. Trai also said that the full potential of the new tariff regime would not be recognised unless the OTT apps are brought under the jurisdiction of Trai regulations.