Subscribers Disappointed With New Trai Regime There have been numerous incidents across the country where the consumers are facing trouble after the migration to the new tariff regime. Some of the subscribers have not been getting the channel of their choices, while some are completely unaware as to how they should go about the migration process. While others who have migrated, are complaining of the increased monthly DTH bill. Amidst all this, the DTH providers and cable operators have been of little help to the subscribers. When Trai set out to implement the new tariff regime, it had expected a transparent pricing regime wherein consumers would only pay for the channels which they wanted, and although the regulator just had good intentions, the way this policy has been executed is a whole new story. A TV broadcaster also agreed as it said, “While there could be debates over the results, the inconvenience it is causing to the general public is humongous.” Pricing Advantage Not Convincing Enough for Subscribers Some subscribers are also of the view that there has been no significant price advantage, in fact, the opposite has happened. They said that while the new implementation is good for an individual, it does not keep in mind that a family of four will all watch different channels, a subscriber said. To make the process more woeful, some MSOs are pushing their packs to the subscribers while others have not even distributed the forms that consumers need to fill out for channel selection. In the latest update, the deadline for the implementation of the new tariff regime was extended to March 31, after the operators were unable to migrate all the subscribers before the previous February 1 deadline. Trai had also directed to transition the subscribers to “Best Fit Plans” which would closely resemble the subscriber’s current channel selection. However, this move has also failed to come in to effect with efficiency. On top of this, there have also been complaints about the tedious process that one has to follow to make his or her channel selections. Little Effect to Tech-Savvy Consumers
