It has almost been a year since the new Direct-to-Home (DTH) regulations by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) came into effect. And now, following complaints that the new system has increased prices massively for consumers, TRAI has announced that it is tweaking the price structure and making it more customer-friendly.
The latest change in the DTH rules sees a dip in the prices of the Network Capacity Fee (NCF). It also lets operators give discounts on long-term plans.
TRAI has said that a bouquet of channels offered by an operator can’t be more than 1.5 times more expensive than the sum of those channels when bought a-la-carte.
Previously, a sum of Rs 130 was applicable for all free-to-air channels and consumers needed to pay more in order to watch additional channels. The amendment now sees consumers having to pay Rs 130 as NCF charge but being entitled to 200 channels. The quota of 200 channels will, however, exclude all the channels that been made compulsory by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Operators have also been mandated not to charge more than Rs 160 per month for giving all channels available on their platform.
Here is how you can choose and personalise your DTH package:
Tata Sky
Users need to head over to the portal and click on the banner to choose channels. They will have to enter their mobile number or subscriber ID followed. This is followed by OTP authentication. After authentication, a user will have three options: recommended for you, Tata Sky packs and all packs and channels. Clicking on the third allows viewers to choose channels based on their needs.
On clicking on the second option, users will see provider curated Tata Sky packs. Under the pack, there is a sub-section that has the curated basic packs.
The FTA Basic Pack, which is priced at zero, will now include 200 SD channels. The basic pack will see a network fee of Rs 130, which added with the 18 percent Goods and Services Tax (GST) makes it Rs 153.
If a user wants to personalise their package, they need to choose a basic package, which added with the FTA gives them access to 200 channels plus the channels included in the basic pack.
According to the new amendment, channel bouquets will only contain those channels that have a price of less than Rs 12. If a channel is costs more than Rs 12, it has to be purchased separately.
Airtel Digital TV
For Airtel, the basic FTA pack comes at Rs 153. With the TRAI mandated changes coming into effect, the basic pack will include 200 channels. Other than this, one users can choose from a list of 8 other packs that include Dabangg Sports Pack at Rs 290 per month, Value Sports Lite at Rs 332 per month, Value Sports Pack at Rs 360 per month, Mega Pack at Rs 510 per month, Dabangg Sports HD Pack at Rs 360 per month, Value Sports Lite HD pack at Rs 480 per month, Value Sports HD Pack at Rs 495 per month, and Mega Pack HD for Rs 699 per month.
Dish TV
While Dish TV had 75 SD channels plus 25 mandatory Doordarshan channels earlier, the same bracket will see the incorporation for 100 more channels in the package.
Dish TV offers 13 monthly packs with the most basic pack being available at a price of Rs 160. The most expensive pack, on the other hand, comes at a cost of Rs 460 per month.
The basic pack, namely Bharat Combo, offers 30 channels and services. The most expensive pack, which is called Titanium, lets users utilize 240 channels and services.
Out of the total 13 packs there are four state exclusive packs that are available at a price of Rs 238 per month and can only be availed in their respective states. These packs are named as HP [Himachal Pradesh] ka Apna Pack, UK [Uttarakhand] Ka Apna Pack, UP Ka Apna Pack and J&K Ka Apna Pack.
The seven other packs include — the Bharat Pack, which is available at a price of Rs 171 per month, offers 191 channels and services. Then, there is the Swagat pack that allows users access to 180 channels and services and can be purchased at a price of Rs 225 per month.
Similarly, Hindi Premium pack, which provides 239 channels and services, can be purchased at a price of Rs 237 per month, while the Super Family pack at Rs 277 per month lets users consume 197 channels and services. The Maxi Sports pack, on the other hand, is priced at Rs 328 per month and it includes 213 channels and services. The Super Sports pack, which is priced at Rs 387 per month, offers 225 channels and services.
While TRAI is set to bring new amendments for consumers from March 1, 2020, broadcasters are required to publish the revised MRP of a-la-carte channels and bouquets on their websites from January 15, 2020.