Consumers will heave a sigh of relief as the cable connections or DTH charges across providers in India will cut by 50% beginning 2019.

Amendments made to the regulations by Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRAI) will be enforced from 29 December.

As per the new regulations, consumers of DTH and cable services will be able to view 100 channels for Rs 130 per month. No operator will be allowed to charge more than Rs 130 per 100 channels per month and neither will any operator be allowed to impose any customised package to the consumer.

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The 100 channels will include 65 free to air channels selected by the end user, 23 channels of Doordarshan, 3 music channels, 3 news channels and 3 movie channels. GST will be additional on Rs 130. Currently India has 867 registered TV Channels and 309 pay channels.

The new framework brings clarity and transparency in pricing by separating the network capacity fee and pay channel fee.  Given the fact that nearly 90% homes watch less than 50 channels, the authority, with a view to provide full choice to the consumer has prescribed a basic tier of 100 channels with a network capacity fee of Rs 130 only.  There will be no additional charge for providing any additional free to air channel.  Any subscriber who opts for more than 100 channels  (a rare choice of less than 10% consumers) can choose additional channels in each slab of 25 channels @Rs 20 per slab.

The new framework provides for complete transparency on Pay Channel pricing structure, whereby no distributor can charge above the MRP declared by a broadcaster.

Currently, the end users are paying upto Rs 200-300 for cable connections per month and DTH end users are paying between Rs 400-500 per month. Once the new regulations are applicable, end users can selected channels of their choice, and limit their monthly rental outflow. It will be made mandatory for DTH operators to disclosethe cost of each additional channel.