Karnataka: No TV For 60 Lakh Cable Subscribers On 24 January As Operators Announce Blackout To Protest TRAI Order

Over 60 lakh cable subscribers across Karnataka will not be able to watch television on 24 January as the Karnataka State Cable Television Operators Association will be blacking out cable channels, reports The Hindu.

The blackout will be in effect from 6 AM to 10 PM as a protest against the new tariff order from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) which will be valid from 1 February.

The president of the association, VS Patrick Raju said that the associations across South India would be switching off the respective channels. In Karnataka, there are 60 to 70 lakh cable channel subscribers.

The cable TV operators in the state are against the new TRAI order which says that consumers will only need to pay for channels they want to watch. The prices of these channels will be set by the respective broadcasters.

Raju said that the latest decision from TRAI is regressive and will be against both subscriber and operator’s interests. Last month, the association had organised a protest across the state.

Raju had then claimed that the consumers would need to pay more and the new system would affect the several thousands of cable operators and their employees.

“The TRAI has come out with the new regulations without taking operators into consideration. At present, the operators are giving 450 channels for ₹300, and if the new rules come into place, the subscriber will end up paying ₹1,500 for the same number of channels as the channel rate ranges from ₹1 to ₹19....The TRAI regulation is a regressive act, and new rules are introduced just to favour big corporate bodies”, Raju said.