City cable TV customers to get package system

Over the next three months, Cable TV customers in the City will have to embrace the new channel package system. Accordingly, customers will have to choose from different packages of channels of their preferences or the price range of their choice.

Karnataka State Cable TV Operators Association president V S Patrick Raju told Deccan Herald that this system would be implemented within the next three months.

“This is as per the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) regulations. We are waiting for the MSO (Multi System Operators) to start implementing it, as they are primarily responsible to see this in place. Once that is done, we will begin offering the packages accordingly and will inform the customers,” he said.

This is being perceived as a move to make the cable TV subscription charges uniform. The TRAI had earlier asked the cable operators for uniform billing and billing per channel, but it was not completely implemented until now. According to Patrick Raju, at present, the cable operators are charging between Rs 250 and Rs 400.

The subscription charges vary depending on different areas in the City. With the implementation of the package system, customers will be paying a uniform amount based on the number of channels. With the package system, customers will also be able to choose an option of a la carte by paying Rs 100 for 100 channels.

The association sees this as the solution to regulate the subscription charges, as opposed to uniformly cutting the subscription charges. Recently, the State government had proposed that the association slash the rates to Rs 100 per month. This would not be feasible, but the new system would ensure fair pricing and uniformity, Raju said.


The Association has taken several measures for cable TV regulation this year. Earlier this year, as per TRAI’s directions, the association had taken up a drive to ensure that every customer had filled in the consumer application form and had set top box for subscribing to cable TV in order to update and maintain customer records across the State.