Resistance from MSOs over audit compliance a huge challenge for TRAI and broadcast sector

Broadcasters have been urging the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to conduct regular audits of cable operators in order to reduce the menace of revenue leakage, apart from some of the other major issues.

Highly placed industry sources told BestMediaInfo.com how this scenario of absence of regular audits of cable operators by TRAI has led to various problems - including revenue leakage, under declaration of subscribers, and piracy of cable and OTT. 

According to the sources, broadcasters showed the data stating that 98% of the audits for Multiple System Operators (MSOs) has not been done in the last five years. The 2% of the audit which was conducted was of DTH providers.

However, while TRAI has taken steps to address the issue of regular audits, it continues to face challenges due to the lack of cooperation from cable operators.

Responding on the issue, sources at TRAI stated that this is a matter of concern for the authority, as it makes it difficult for them to ensure compliance and take necessary actions against those who are not following the rules. 

“TRAI has been working to address this issue and is still moving in that direction to ensure the smooth functioning of the cable TV industry,” the source said.

Speaking about the negative impacts which can be observed in the current scenario, in the absence of regular audits, a source from the broadcast side said that piracy of cable and OTT are the biggest issues. Along with that, under declaration of the subscribers will impact the broadcasters and due to this there is also a revenue leakage.

Furthermore, the sources pointed out that cable operators who under-declare subscribers can sell the extra connections to customers for a lower price, leading to piracy of services. This also means that genuine subscribers may have to bear the brunt of poor-quality signals or unreliable services.

TRAI has made it mandatory for cable operators to declare the number of subscribers they have, but without regular audits, the system remains open to abuse, the sources said.

TRAI needs to take more stringent action to regulate and monitor the cable TV and broadcasting industry, including conducting regular audits, to prevent such menace, a broadcast veteran said.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com