The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has directed all DPOs to ensure that the television channels of the same genre, as declared by the broadcasters, are placed together consecutively and one channel shall appear at one place only.
The directive has been issued following several complaints received by TRAI, alleging transmission of TV channels on dual LCN or placement of channels by the DPOs out of the genre declared by the broadcasters.
TRAI has said that strict action will be taken against such distributors under the provisions of TRAI Act, 1997.
As per provisions of the Quality of Service & Consumer Protection (Addressable Systems) Regulations (QoS Regulations), which came into effect from July 3, 2018, every broadcaster is required to declare the genre of its channels and it is mandatory for the distributor to place channels in the electronic programme guide in such a way that the TV channels of the same genre are placed together consecutively and on channels shall appear at one place only.
As per the regulations, the distributor shall assign a unique channel number for each TV channel available on the distribution network. The channel number once assigned to a particular channel cannot be altered by the distributor for a period of at least one year from the date of assigning the number.
Courtesy: www.adgully.com
