BackViewers face cable TV blackout as operators miss Trai deadline
40% viewers in Delhi and Mumbai face a blackout after Tuesday; cable operators seek deadline extension
Premium(Priyanka Parashar/Mint)
New Delhi: Nearly 40% of the cable television subscribers in Delhi and Mumbai may face a blackout after Tuesday for not having filed consumer application forms (CAF) with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).
Multi-system operators (MSO), which are large cable network operators, are required to file details of their customers and their choice of television channels with the telecom and broadcast regulator by 25 June, according to the rules governing the digital addressable system, or DAS.
The system was created for digitizing television feeds across the country by 2014.
Trai set the deadline for cable companies to submit their know your customer forms on 7 June. On 21 June, it reiterated that it was firm on the deadline.
“We are in compliance with the Trai deadline. But we will have to switch off a few 100,000 set-top boxes tomorrow (Tuesday)," said Jagjit Singh Kohli, chief executive, Digicable, a cable distribution firm in Mumbai. Kohli said his company had received the forms from 94% of its customers, but “when it comes to selection of channels by subscribers, I’m afraid the data is not complete. We would need a week or so to complete that".
MSOs are seeking an extension in the deadline to complete the task.
S.N. Sharma, chief executive of New Delhi-based DEN Networks Ltd, said his company had received the forms from 75% of its customers and has deactivated the feed for about 125,000 subscribers who haven’t submitted their details.
“The process is on. We are giving updates to Trai on an hourly basis. I agree that the forms should have been in by now. But practically speaking it could take two-three days longer," Sharma said.
Ashok Mansukhani, executive director, IndusInd Media and Communications Ltd, a multi-city cable network company run by the Hinduja family, declined to comment.
According to the cable TV industry’s estimates, only about 60% of the customer application forms have been filed in Mumbai and Delhi. Currently, these forms have to be filed only in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata, the cities covered by phase one of the digitization drive. Trai is focused on compliance in the top two metros for now.
“If we cannot get the top cities to comply, how will we govern digitization in the entire country," said Rahul Khullar, chairman, Trai.
MSOs, fighting a losing battle against the local cable operators who have yet to submit the forms with customer details, have sought a meeting with Trai on Tuesday. “The trade would humbly request them for an extension in deadline," said Sharma of DEN.
Some media experts said Trai’s execution process lacks logic and perspective.
“The move to acquire consumer application forms is appreciated. However, the strict deadline placed after DAS seems tough," said Smita Jha, leader of the entertainment and media practice at consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Another analyst, who did not want to be named, said the operators should have been informed earlier.
Khullar doesn’t buy this criticism. There cannot be any extension of the deadline, he said. “This law is applicable from 1 November. The authority has shown regulatory forbearance for eight months. We knew that there were difficulties. But eight months is a long time," he said.
He said the CAF rule that preceded his tenure states that under the Digital Addressable Cable TV Systems Regulations, 2012, MSOs cannot deliver signals to a customer unless they have his or her details. “If they do, they will be breaching the law and Trai can prosecute them," he said.
MSOs blame local cable operators for the delays and they in turn are blaming the customers for not submitting the forms. Local cable operators are a cable company’s last-mile contact with customers.
A broadcast company executive, declining to be identified, said complete declaration of customers would hurt the revenue of both the MSOs and the local operators.
“It is going to be a tough time for local operators in the coming months but the industry has made it clear to them that we need to execute this. They will find an equilibrium eventually, " said Kohli of Digicable.
Shuchi Bansal contributed to this story.
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