Not Aimed At Revising DTH And Broadcast Tariff Order Clarifies TRAI, Says Consultation Paper Aimed At Fine-Tuning Issues

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) new consultation paper aims at resolving the issues which remain in the new tariff order (NTO), reports the Telecom Talk.

In a recent interview with ET Telecom, regulator chairman RS Sharma said that there have been various misconceptions over the new consultation paper. While clarifying them, Sharma said that the regulator only wants to bring in consumer-friendly changes to empower consumer choice and not revise the NTO.

While pointing out that the new framework to regulate the broadcasting and DTH sector in the country is completely different than the previous regime, Sharma tells that TRAI is not changing any part of the new regime, and anybody implying the same is not true.

Sharma says TRAI is only attempting to patch up to fine-tune the regulatory framework and the issues related to consumers concerning the new tariff regime. He also reiterates that the issuing of new consultation paper does not mean that there is going to be a change on the regime, but only in areas which need fine-tuning.

While speaking on the matter of bundling of channels, Sharma said that the regulator is not adamant on disallowing bundling of channels and is not discouraging bouquets. He said that the TRAI aims to keep the best interest of consumers.

He confirmed that the paper is not a final decision and only relates to issues which have come up and wants stakeholders to view whether or not change is needed.