TRAI seeks relook at caps on channel discounts

New Delhi: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued a consultation paper to re-look at imposing restrictions on discounts offered by broadcasters on channel bouquets after the implementation of the new regulatory framework for cable and broadcasting services.

The regulator on Friday hit out at the broadcasters and said the lack of any caps on discounts offered on bouquets, compared to a-la-carte channel pricing, is being “misused to throttle market discovery of TV channel prices, by giving huge discounts on the bouquets.”

“The tariff declared by the broadcasters under the new regulatory framework shows that bouquets are being offered at a discount of up to 70% of the sum of the a-la-carte rates of pay channels constituting those bouquets.