TRAI hearing with DTH operators regarding new tariff plan postponed till 28 January

TRAI’s new regulatory tariff for DTH, cable operators will be coming into effect from 1 February but there are still some legal troubles that need to be smoothed out. DTH providers such as Tata Sky, Sun Direct TV, Bharti Telemedia limited, have filed a petition against the new regulatory regime by TRAI. [caption id=“attachment_5798031” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] Representational image.[/caption] The judgement on the case neede to happen today but now the hearing is set to take place on 28 January in the Delhi High Court. If the court happens to rule in favour of the judgement then the new regulatory tariffs will come into play as planned from 1 February, although DTH operators have the option of appealing to the Supreme Court. If the court rules in favour of the operators then the tariff regulation will be stalled. The new framework allows consumers to select and pay only for the channels they wish to view, and requires TV broadcasters to disclose the maximum retail price (MRP) of each channel and that of bouquets. The TRAI, in March, 2017, had notified the new regulatory framework for Broadcasting and Cable services and re-notified it on July 3, 2018, prescribing the implementation schedule. According to the implementation schedule, all the service providers were required to complete the preparation for migration to a new framework by December 28, 2018 but it was then postponed to 1 February. The government had said that the new regulatory framework for broadcasting and cable services will provide “freedom of choice” and give consumers “direct control” on their monthly bill for television services. With inputs from Press Trust of India