TRAI has justified its move by noting that some broadcasters increased their à la carte channel prices by more than 100% after the implementation of the first NTO. “By further reducing the discounting options, the regulator is setting the consumer up for having to pay more first,” he said, at the same press conference.
Uday Shankar, president, The Walt Disney Company, APAC, and chairman, Star and Disney India, believes that the first tariff order was not thoughtful, and pointed out that broadcasters had notified that the bills of consumers would increase post this.
“In spite of 15 years of regulations that sought to influence a consumer’s choice for à la carte, the lay consumer still prefers bundling, a fact the regulator seems unwilling to accept,” said NP Singh, MD and CEO, Sony Pictures Networks India, and president, IBF, at a press conference. But ICRA finds that viewers continued to prefer the latter. The NTO had also aimed to shift consumer behaviour towards à la carte channels over bouquets. The NTO implemented in 2019 resulted in up to 23% surge in bills for subscribers, as per credit ratings agency ICRA. The court will hear the case on January 30 when the broadcasters will file a rejoinder in response to TRAI’s justifications.Īccording to industry watchers, TRAI introduced the new amendment because the first tariff order did not have the desired effect of reducing the consumer’s bills. TRAI filed its response on January 22 justifying the amendments. Claims worth Rs 19.4k crore admitted for Future Retail
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