Distributors happy as TRAI addresses their concerns; broadcasters raise audit issue

The recent amendments made by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) fetched mixed reactions from cable operators and broadcasters. 

On Monday, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), abolished the ceiling on NCF, increased the limit of discounts offered by DPOs, removed the distinction between HD and SD channels for carriage fee purposes and made it mandatory to declare FTA channels.

The distributors feel that if all the amendments are implemented in true spirit, it will help the value chain.

“Distribution platform operators (DPO) are free to charge on the channels, which would lead to healthy competition,” a senior distribution executive said.

The ceilings of Rs 130 for 200 channels and Rs 160 for more than 200 channels have been removed from the Network Capacity Fee (NCF) and are kept under forbearance to make it market-driven as well as equitable. 

DPOs have now been permitted to offer discounts up to 45% while forming their bouquets to enable flexibility for them in forming bouquets and to offer attractive deals to consumers. Earlier, this discount was permitted only up to 20%.

Another executive from a large DPO said that the difference between HD and SD channels has been removed, which is a welcome move as HD channels used to come at a higher cost. 

With the proliferation of HD television sets and to encourage the transmission of high-definition content, the distinction between HD and SD channels has been removed for the purpose of carriage fees.

“The carriage fee regime was simplified and made technology-neutral by prescribing only single ceiling for carriage fee, thereby, providing the DPOs with the option to charge a lesser carriage fee as deemed appropriate,” notified TRAI. 

On the other hand, the notification has left broadcasters worried. 

There has been distrust between MSOs, LCOs and broadcasters due to the audits not being conducted as mandated by the government and the regulator, a senior broadcast executive said adding that it has led to piracy with under-declaration being rampant.

He further added that there are no disputes between the direct-to-home (DTH) operators and broadcasters. 

“There are no disputes between DTH operators and broadcasters because there is transparency and revenue sharing because of the digital nature. However, this has not been the case with the DPOs,” he highlighted.

Another senior expert raised a point about removing the NCF ceiling and being kept under forbearance. He stated that while forbearance has only been introduced at the DPO level, the broadcasting fraternity requested forbearance at a holistic level.