After TRAI’s new rule on tariffs, this is how your monthly cable, DTH bill will be calculated

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued a deadline for the upcoming changes to television tariffs, according to which subscribers have to pay for television channels. These new tariffs will apply to all local and DTH channels. TRAI has started sending messages TV subscribers about the new ruling.

Under the new rule, subscribers can choose the exact channels they want to watch, rather than the pre-decided packs offered by DTC and cable operators.  This new rule of TRAI comes into effect from February 1, 2019, as the deadline for implementation of the rule is January 31, 2019.

Below are some of the crucial points on how the new ruling will change your monthly bill for cable television.

With the new ruling, customers can choose for the desired channels they want to watch, and skip out the channels which they do not watch.

Customers can choose their 100 base channels from a range of free and paid channels. Customers can also choose more than 100 channels.

The base pack will include a combination of 100 channels, which will consists of standard definition (SD) channels. The price for this base pack will be Rs. 130.

Customers have the full right to choose their combination of channels.

Customers can choose among various channels – paid and free to air basis under this pack. The pack of 100 channels will cost a base price Rs. 130, and the cost of paid channels will be added to the base price.

For instance, if your pack of 100 channels has 50 free-to-air channels, 25 DD channels and the total cost of the remaining 25 paid channels is Rs 79, then the bill is 130+79+18 per cent GST, which comes to Rs 245.62. That’s rounded off to Rs 246 per month.

IF you need more than 100 channels, an extra fee of Rs. 20 will be added to the pack for per slab of 25 channels.

For instance, if you have chosen all 100 free-to-air channels, then your network capacity fee is only Rs 130. Then you add more channels to this list of 100, which will be done in a slab of 25 channels with a maximum network capacity fee of Rs 20 per slab. If these extra channels cost Rs 50 in total, then your bill will be Rs 130+20+50, which is Rs 200+18% GST, which comes to Rs 236 per month.