December 27,2018:
On Wednesday, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) clarified that the customers will not face any disruption of their TV services due to implementation of its new regulatory framework for broadcasting and cable services.New framework, which comes into force from December 29, allows the consumers to select and pay only for channels they wish to view, and requires the TV broadcasters to disclose maximum retail price of channels individually as well as of bouquets.
TRAI in its statement stated that,“Authority has noticed that there are messages circulating in media that there may be a black-out of existing subscribed channels on TV screens after December 29. The Authority is seized of the matter and hereby advises that all Broadcasters/DPOs/LCOs will ensure that any channel that a consumer is watching today is not discontinued on 29.12.2018".
Keeping in view interest of subscribers and to enable a smooth transition, Authority is preparing a detailed Migration Plan for all the existing subscribers.
It further stated that,“The migration plan will provide ample opportunity to each and every subscriber for making an informed choice. This will also enable service providers in carrying out the various activities as stipulated in the new regulatory framework in a time-bound manner".
Authority maintained that cost to consumers will not increase.
TRAI, in its FAQs on the new norms, has reasoned that after digitization of cable TV networks in March 2017, there was an urgent need to improve transparency as many stakeholders were not providing choice to consumers.
Authority added that consumer becomes the real decision-maker now.
Source Hindu
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