DTH Users In Metro Areas Saving Up To 15% In Subscription Post TRAI Framework: Govt.

The direct-to-home (DTH) subscribers in the country’s metro cities are saving to the tune of 10 to 15 percent in their subscription after the implementation of the new regulatory framework by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar stated in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

Apart from the metro cities, DTH users in the non-metro areas are also saving between 5 to 10 per cent, the reply said. The data was provided to the lower house of the Parliament in its Monsoon session in response to a question put across by MK Raghavan.

According to the new framework, DTH users get to select and pay for only those TV channels which they wish to watch. It will not for the whole bundled package prepared by the customer’s DTH operator.

According to the written reply, there were “a few cases” reported where there was a “marginal increase” in prices where a consumer had more than one TV connection.

The minister in his response has also stated that TRAI has taken various steps in a bid to ease concerns of the consumers. Some of these steps include the provision of consumer corner on the websites belonging to the service providers, consumer care channel on TV at channel number 999, call centre established by TRAI for catering to consumer complaints.

To recall, the new cable and DTH framework was first notified by TRAI back in March 2017. The framework was later re-notified with an implementation schedule last year in July. All DTH operators were asked by the regulator to complete the preparation to migrate to the new framework by the end of December 2018. In February, TRAI had extended the deadline for customers to select their new DTH plans under the latest framework to March 31, 2019.―Indian Express