Changes in the cable TV charges, are paid channels required?
Posted on: 22/Dec/2018 12:13:17 PM
The telecasting companies throughout the country who provide services through Cable TV and DTH have announced revisions in the charges from 29th December.
As per the announcement/regulations announced by TRAI (Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of India), charges have been fixed per customer as per the following rates – Network capacity charges Rs. 130, GST charges at the rate of 18% - Rs. 23.40 for a total of Rs. 153.40 per month. Apart from this, an additional 100 channels including DD will be provided free.
Further, each additional 25 channels selected by the customer from the list of channels given by the service provider, the charges of Rs. 20 would be collected along with the GST rate of 18% which is Rs. 3.50 for a total monthly payment of Rs. 23.60.
If any of the 25 channels chosen by the customer is under the category of the paid channel, the customer needs to pay the required amount along with GST as an extra payment.
The details of charges for each paid channel have been uploaded in the official website of the respective channels.
Whichever be the operating system - cable TV or DTH or IPTV – a uniform charge as been fixed without any change from place to place. Also, the facility has been given to the customers to revise their preferred channel list every month.
It may be noted that earlier, without consulting the customers, the paid channels were provided to them and charged! However, with this proposed change, the customer can select and watch only his preferred channels while paying for the same. So, it is expected that this will have an impact on the paid TV channels and their advertisements revenues. This situation may lead to some of the paid channels to either reduce their rates or convert into a free channel.
As on the midnight of 28th December, the existing connection of paid channels will all be stopped and from 29th December, only the paid channels as preferred by the customer would be available. So, the customers are advised to contact their respective cable TV providers and make the necessary changes in the set-top box as per the preferred list of paid channels.
It can further be noted that for the customers without set-top boxes, providing analogue cable service has been banned.
