Get ready to pay Rs 30-40 more on your monthly cable television bill from May onwards. With the entertainment tax increased from 6% to 10% in the state budget for 2016-17, cable operators are planning to pass on the hike to customers.
Cable TV operators are expected to have a meeting with multiple system operators in about a week to determine the exact hike, said V S Patrick Raju, president, Karnataka Cable TV Operators Association.
Residents of Rajajinagar, Malleswaram and Jayanagar may end up paying an additional Rs 30 per month.
“All these days, the monthly bill was inclusive of the 6% tax. From now on, we will ask customers to pay the tax separately. For someone who pays Rs 300 now, the bill may go up to Rs 330. In economically weaker neighbourhoods, we charge just Rs 250,” Raju said.
Nearly 22 lakh households in Bengaluru are covered by cable TV operators while 15% of the residents have Direct to Home Connection (DTH) service. At present, more than 400 channels are being aired on cable TV.
Raju said digitisation had resulted in television channels making profit and cable operators suffering losses. “We were told that cable TV rates would go down if digitisation happens. Now, we see they are going up,” he said.
Exemption sought
Raju said they would write to Chief Minister Siddaramiah to exempt cable television from tax. “When there are no taxes for the print medium, the same should apply to the electronic medium. Or else, customers will have to pay more,” he said.
Multiple-system operators said they were working out the plans and rates. “In Bengaluru, the package was released only recently. Our company has started analysing this on a business-to-business level. We will have a meeting with the cable TV operators soon,” said the spokesperson for Hathway, one of the multiple system operators.
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