Chandigarh: The Cable operators in Punjab were up against the state govt’s order capping the monthly subscription charges at Rs 100 when only the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had the power to fix the rates.
The operators expressed their agony of being branded by the state govt as mafia, when the owners of the legitimate businesses were denigrated as “mafia”, it hurt their families, their children especially.
After chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi had announced the price cap, Patiala-based member of the operators’ association, Vikas Puri, called a press conference to say that: “By the tariff order of March 3, 2017, the monthly network capacity fee (NCF) for providing 200 channels was fixed at Rs 130 for the LCOs (local cable operators). The customer is free to choose the paid channels and the cost is added to the NCF. The owner-broadcasters decide and publish the maximum retail price of the paid channels and their bouquets. The MSOs (multi-system operators) or the LCOs get only a 20% commission on the maximum retail price, shared equally and regulated by TRAI.”
Sanjeet Gill, president, Punjab Local Cable Operators, said it was not possible to give the connection at Rs 100 per month as the lowest tariff fixed by TRAI was Rs 130, excluding GST. The tariff goes up depending upon the package. “By announcing the unrealistic tariff, the government has compounded our problems. We are already on the verge of shutting our business due to DTH operators. Nearly, 25,000 families are dependent on local cable operators,” he said.
They added that an LCO managed 300 to 500 connections, received 70% share from the NCF, and made 10% on the broadcaster’s bouquet. That’s Rs 91 out of every monthly paid channel subscription worth Rs 175. The upper ceiling of Rs 100 will crash the state’s local cable TV business and help only the big DTH (direct to home) companies such as Airtel and Reliance to grow. Punjab has more than 17 lakh DTH subscribers.
The association requesting the Punjab CM to reconsider his decision stating that it was a livelihood and survival question for more than 5,000 cable operators and their 20,000-odd employees who served Punjab’s 18 lakh subscribers.
