Miffed on the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) new tariff plan for paid channels, the cable operators in the city will stage protest on Sunday. According to cable operators, TRAI had implemented new tariff in December 29, 2018 and after the expiry of one month extension, another new tariff order has been executed from 1st February, 2019. Although TRAI is said to have the intention of giving option to customers to select TV channels according to their choice but customers are now ending up paying more
Broadcasters have increased the prices of all the channels and in particular those channels which are highly popular.
In the past, 300 SD channels were priced at Rs. 150 to Rs. 300 but now the broadcasters and MSOs have increased the tariff. For 300 SD channels they are demanding from Rs 725 to Rs 1200. Prices are being increased by 4-6 times taking advantage of the new rules.
If a family decides to watch only 100 free channels and other paid Marathi channels, then they will have to pay Rs 130 for 100 free channels, then 518 for most paid channels, Rs 60 more for N.F.C. In addition to Rs 708 more, 18% GST (Rs 127) will be charged. So customer pay over ₹800 per month. All this is completely anti-customer. This is a clear violation of the new order.
The Vidarbha Cable Operators Association has demanded that these increments should be revoked and the new rules should be postponed till then. To press for their demand the cable operators have organised a silent march with black band on their arms. The cable operators will gather at Shri Gujarati Samaj bhawan at 11 am and after a meeting the silent march will be taken out, convener Hitesh Mutha said.
