New Tata Sky Directed by Telecom Regulator to File a Status Report Over the Implementation of New Tariff Regime

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has asked direct-to-home operator Tata Sky to file a status report over the implementation of the new rule that allows viewers select and pay only for the channels they wished to view, citing a large number of complaints from its consumers. The sectoral regulator also alleged that the DTH operator is misleading its consumers by informing subscribers that “Trai has extended the date of implementation of new regulatory framework”.

In a letter to Tata Sky, Trai said it had received “a large number of complaints” from its subscribers that the company has “not made any provision in their system to obtain the choice of subscribers as per the new regulatory framework.” This news is reported by Press Trust of India.

Subscribers have “also pointed out that the customer care centre of Tata Sky as well as the (ticker’ running on Tata Sky platform channels are misleading the subscribers by informing that the Trai has extended the date of implementation of new regulatory framework”, it added.

“This information is patently false and misleading,” Trai said in its letter, adding it “has only provided time up to January 31, 2019, to enable the subscribers to choose television channels for a smooth migration to the new regulatory framework”.

When contacted, TataSky, a joint venture between the Tata Group and 21st Century Fox, declined to comment saying the matter is subjudice before the court. Trai’s framework allows consumers to select and pay only for the channels they wish to view and requires TV broadcasters to disclose maximum retail price (MRP) of channels individually and those of bouquets.

Except for Tata Sky, other DTH and Cable TV service providers already issued new tariff plans based on the Trai regime. It’s unknown when Tata Sky is going to come up with its tariff plan list as consumers are already worried over the new tariff regime implementation.