Customer Not The King? As TATA Sky - Sony Feud Rages On, No Respite For Consumers  

Amidst the tug of war between Tata Sky and Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN), millions of subscribers continue to miss out on several shows and sports events as the DTH operator hasn’t yet restored the Sony channels that have been pulled from the platform since 1 October, reports The Economic Times.

Several subscribers have taken to social media to complain about the lack of service, especially Twitter and Facebook, even as Tata Sky restored 10 SPN channels under the reference interconnect offer (RIO) agreement.

The debacle came after the Rs 800 crore three-year agreement between SPN and Tata Sky came to an end in July, with SPN demanding Rs 1,700 crore for the same tenure and Tata Sky subsequently removing 22 of the network’s channels over the pricing dispute.

Following the row, the Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), directed both the parties to come up with an amicable solution within four weeks with the matter set for hearing on 11 November.

Throughout this episode, Tata Sky has maintained that its users can view Sony’s channels at no extra price by sending them a Direct Message (DM) with required details. TDSAT too ruled that Tata Sky should continue carrying all the channel in the interest of the viewers.