Confused about DTH TV pack pricing? Channel Selector tool from TRAI is here for your rescue

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recently drafted new regulations and directed various DTH service providers and operators to implement them.

These regulations were set up to ensure all operators in the DTH and cable ecosystem get a fair share of earnings. The immediate benefit will be passed to consumers as they get to choose what they want to watch and pay for it accordingly. The deadline for setting up new regulations is January 31, and new plans will come into existence on February 1, 2019.

To help consumers implement and understand the new regulations, TRAI has launched a tool for DTH users and service providers that lets them preview their new subscription packs and prices. 

The application lists out all channels which are mandatory, paid, free-to-air, SD and HD and informs subscribers about the total amount of the channels/packs they subscribed to in a mocked preview. This tool is known as the Channel Selector Application and can be accessed from the URL: https://channel.trai.gov.in/. 

For actually subscribing to the channels, subscribers need to contact their DTH operators. If a customer has selected a channel that belongs to a package, the application also helps to optimise the bill by informing about the same.

TRAI states that the whole process is like adding products into a shopping cart where at the end, the total price appears, and the final copy can be printed so that consumers can forward the same to the service provider.

Subscription to 25 channels is mandatory which includes regional DD channels, Lok Sabha TV, Rajya Sabha TV among others. While a choice of 100 channels is included in the base pack, subscribing to any more of these channels will cost only network capacity fees.

The current network capacity fees is set at Rs 154 (Rs 130+GST) for the base pack of 100 channels. Anything above 100 channels will cost additional network capacity fees of Rs 20 per 25 channels. All details about new pricing are on TRAI’s website.