The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on July 08, 2024, issued Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services (Eighth) (Addressable Systems) Tariff (Fourth Amendment) Order, 2024, Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Interconnection (Addressable Systems) (Sixth Amendment) Regulations, 2024, Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Standards of Quality of Service and Consumer Protection (Addressable Systems) (Fourth Amendment) Regulations, 2024 and also recommendations to Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) on 'Listing of channels in Electronic Programme Guide and Upgrading DD Free Dish platform to an Addressable System'.
These amendments, except for a few clauses, shall come into force after 90 days from the date of its publication in the official gazette.
The primary objective of these amendments includes the following:
• Facilitate growth of the broadcasting sector by reducing regulatory mandates and compliance requirements.
• Provide flexibility to the service providers to adopt a market-driven approach while safeguarding the interest of the consumers and small players through transparency, accountability and equitability.
• Promoting ease of doing business by simplifying the regulatory provisions.
The salient features of these amendments include the following:
• Tariff Order
Ceilings of Rs 130 for 200 channels and Rs 160 on more than 200 channels have been removed on Network Capacity Fee (NCF) and are kept under forbearance to make it market-driven as well as equitable. A service provider may now charge different NCFs based on the number of channels, different regions, different customer classes or any combination thereof. To ensure transparency, all such charges have to be mandatorily published by the service providers and communicated to the consumers besides reporting to the TRAI.
• Interconnection Regulations
With the proliferation of HD television sets and to encourage the transmission of high-definition content, the distinction between HD and SD channels has been removed for carriage fees.
• QoS Regulations
Charges for services like installation and activation, visiting, relocation and temporary suspension which were prescribed earlier under regulation have now been kept under forbearance. DPOs have to publish the charges of their services for clarity and transparency to consumers.
[Press Release No 38/2024]
