As TRAI’s 31 January Deadline Draws Closer, 50 Per Cent Subscribers Yet To Submit Their Choices To DTH Operators

Despite nearing of the month-end deadline for transferring around 16.5 crore pay TV households to the new tariff regime by TRAI, just about half of the subscribers have made their choices and informed their operators about them, reports The Economic Times.

Indian DTH and cable operators continue to struggle as they have the humongous task of reaching out to their customers and getting their choices. The operators, despite the challenges, expect to get 75 per cent of the responses by 26 January.

The exercise has to be concluded by 31 January as per the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) mandate, and consumers will have to shift to the new tariff order from 1 February. Despite the broadcast regulator asking operators to reach out to all the subscribers by Monday (21 January), about 30 per cent of the customers are yet to be contacted.

“Majority of our members have approached 65-70 per cent of their consumers, and the momentum is building on the ground, we have sent SMS and emails to our subscribers. There is information running on the default channel. Many of our local cable operators have also started reaching out to end-users. The information is also available on consumer apps,” a spokesperson for All India Digital Cable Federation was quoted in the report as saying.

“Everyone is committed to crossing 75 per cent by 26 January, and everyone was unanimous on this point at today’s meeting, there will not be a blackout, and the transition will start maybe 3-4 days ahead of 1 February,” an executive who attended the meeting conducted by the regulatory body was quoted in the report as saying.