(a) whether the Government proposes to provide bouquet of channels and at cheaper rates to
the Direct To Home subscribers; and
(b) if so, the details thereof and the time by which this facility is likely to be provided
all over the country including in rural areas?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING (SHRI C. M. JATUA)
(a) & (b) : The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued a Tariff order for
addressable systems namely the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services (Fourth) (Addressable Systems) Tariff Order, 2010 dated 21.07.2010, which is also applicable to DTH
Services. The clause 6 of this tariff order provides as under: -
Mandatory offering of pay channels on a-la-carte basis to ordinary subscribers and charges
therefor. (1) Every service provider providing broadcasting services or cable services to its
subscribers using an addressable system shall, from the date of coming into force of this
Order, offer or cause to offer all pay channels offered by it to its subscribers on a-la-carte
basis and shall specify the maximum retail price for each pay channel, as payable by the
ordinary subscriber:
Provided that in the case of direct to home service, a direct to home operator who is unable to
offer all its pay channels to its subscribers on a-la-carte basis on the date of coming into
force of this order due to any technical reason, shall offer all its pay channels on a-la-carte
basis to its subscribers with effect from a date not later than the 1st day of January, 2011.
(2) It shall be open to a service provider, while offering its pay channels on a-la-carte basis
and specifying a-la-carte rates for each of them under clause (1), to specify a minimum
subscription period, not exceeding three months, for subscribing to a pay channel on a-la-carte
basis by a subscriber.
(3) Every service provider providing broadcasting services or cable services to subscribers
using an addressable system may, in addition to the offering of pay channels on a-la-carte
basis under sub-clause (1), also offer bouquets of channels, in which case, it shall specify
the maximum retail price for each such bouquet applicable to its ordinary subscribers.
(4) It shall be open to the service provider to specify a minimum monthly subscription, not
exceeding one hundred and fifty rupees (exclusive of taxes) per month per subscriber, towards
channels chosen by the subscriber, either a-la-carte or bouquet, for availing the services of
such service provider.
The provisions of this tariff order shall be applicable with effect from 1st September 2010.