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Andrew Bonwick
Vice President of Product Development at Relm Insurance
Madhav Sheth
CEO of Ai+ Smartphone
Stephen Rose
CEO Render Networks
There has been a lot of headlines pertaining to the new consultation paper that Trai has floated regarding the correction of the new national tariff order, which the regulator had introduced last year. The consultation paper seeks to invite comments from the industry stakeholders to discuss the issues plaguing the broadcasting and DTH industry. However, as per a new ET report, the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) that represents television broadcasters has come up with concerns about the new consultation paper. The association concerned majorly about the timing of this consultation paper because it has been a few months only since the industry and consumers alike have migrated to the new tariff regime.
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Consumers and Stakeholders Still Adapting to New Tariff Regime
As per the Indian Broadcasting Foundation, the issues with the new tariff regime are very central to the national tariff order (NTO) which Trai implemented on February 1, 2019. The IBF has highlighted that it has been barely a few months since the industry and consumers adopted the new rules and the industry is already adjusting to the new tariff regime. In such a volatile situation, Trai has gone ahead and introduced a consultation paper which proposes a discussion about changes in fundamental pricing and bouquet formation rules which the new tariff regime notes down. The IBF statement read, “This goes against all norms of a stable regulatory regime so necessary for the economic advancement of any industry.”
The IBF also stated that the new tariff regime has massively changed the broadcasting industry, and it has slowly garnered support from the industry stakeholders, the distribution platform operators (DPOs), and the consumers. It also added that the migration to the new regime is being handled pretty smoothly. IBF stated, “Broadcasters have done their best to ensure a smooth transition without a disruption of services. TRAI itself has stated that over 90% of consumers have migrated to the new tariff regime by choosing channels and/or bouquets of their choice,” it further added, “IBF wishes to point out that the cap on bouquet discounts under the NTO was struck down by the Madras High Court as “arbitrary”. Further, the global practice in the television and cable industry is the offering of content in bouquets customised to meet the diverse needs of consumers.”
