Trai notifies amendments to broadcasting and cable service regulation framework

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has issued amendments to the regulatory framework for broadcasting and cable services, including changes in network capacity fees and discounts that distribution platform operators can offer. 

Trai has removed the ceiling on network capacity fee (NCF) of ₹130 for 200 channels and ₹160 for more than 200 channels. The fee will now be driven by market forces, Trai said, adding that service providers can charge NCF based on the number of channels, region, customer class, or any other combination.

To ensure transparency, all charges have to be mandatorily published by service providers and communicated to consumers, besides reporting to Trai, the regulator said on Monday.

Distribution platform operators (DPOs) have been allowed to offer discounts of up to 45% while forming their channel bouquets to enable flexibility and provide deals to consumers. Earlier, this discount was limited to 15%.

A pay channel available at no subscription fee on the direct-to-home (DTH) platform of the public service broadcaster has to be declared free-to-air by the broadcaster for all addressable distribution platforms so as to have a level-playing field. DPOs have been mandated to declare the tariffs of their platform services.

With the proliferation of high-definition (HD) television sets and to encourage the transmission of such content, the distinction between HD and SD (standard definition) channels has been removed for the purpose of carriage fee. A single ceiling for carriage fee has been prescribed, providing DPOs with the option of charging a lower fee as deemed appropriate.

These measures are expected to not only simplify the offerings of service providers to consumers but also promote the availability of high-quality channels, Trai said.

Service charges

Charges for services such as installation and activation, visits, relocation and temporary suspension, which were prescribed earlier under regulation, have now been kept under forbearance. DPOs will have to publish the charges of their services for clarity and transparency. 

Further, the duration, term and validity of all prepaid subscriptions should be specified by the number of days only for greater clarity to consumers.

DPOs may display Distributor Retail Prices (DRP) in electronic programme guides (EPG) along with the maximum retail price (MRP) of channels. DPOs must categorise platform service channels - programmes transmitted by DPOs exclusively to their own subscribers - under the genre of ‘Platform Services’ in the EPG and display the respective MRP of such channels to ensure transparency. They should also provide an option for activation or deactivation of such services.

The regulator issued recommendations to the information and broadcasting ministry on issues such as the listing of channels in EPGs and the transition of the DD Free Dish to an addressable system.

While giving permission to each channel, the ministry should seek information from broadcasters about the primary language of these and sub-genres of every non-news channel and display them on its Broadcast Seva portal to enable DPOs to place the channel at appropriate place in the EPG for easy navigation by consumers, in accordance with present regulations, Trai said.

In order to ensure the quality of viewing experiences, prevent unauthorised re-transmission of television channels to combat piracy and maintain the record of subscribers, Prasar Bharati will take steps to convert the DD Free Dish platform from a non-addressable system to an addressable system and start by encrypting the signals of private satellite television channels at the DD Free Dish head end before uplinking. Subsequently, all other channels of DD Free Dish may also be transmitted in encrypted form, Trai said.