Entertainment Gets Costly: Cable, DTH Bills Set To Spike Substantially In January Following New TRAI Tariff Directive

TV viewers in India may see their monthly cable or DTH bills rising substantially from 1 January onwards, as a new tariff order for broadcasting services comes into effect as per the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) latest directions, reports The Economic Times.

The new tariff directive allows customers to choose and pay for TV channels individually as per the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) set for them by individual broadcasting companies.

Recently, all TV networks have announced their prices for individual channels and bouquet plans- which attach non-performing channels along with popular/flagship channels.

Under this new regime, a bouquet with just the basic channels without regional or sports channels will cost Rs 400-450. The same channels if bought on an a-la-carte basis will cost the consumer more than Rs 800.

However, the price will remain cheap for free-to-air channels, with a set of 100 such channels costing around Rs 130 plus taxes under the new tariff structure. Although TRAI’s move is intended to create transparency and provide consumers with greater choice, the new rate structure is likely to upset customers, particularly in non-metro cities.

“One can expect Phase I/II subscribers to pay more but convincing price sensitive Phase III/IV subscribers to cough extra for TV services, who are currently paying Rs 200-250 per month, will be a challenge,” stated an analyst at Ambit Capital, Vivekanand Subbaraman.