Aiming to make content consumption on TV channels more affordable, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has come up with a new framework for Cable TV and DTH operators that will give users the freedom to pick, opt and pay for channels of their choice—instead of selecting “packs” that the service provider offers.

However, with the new set of regulations having officially kicked in from February 1, 2019, some ambiguity still remains around how television viewers will have to go about this transition. How does one pick and pay for individual channels? Does this work out to be cheaper than picking packs? More importantly, what is the criteria for a channel to make it into the “free” category, and why has the broadcasting of some channels taken precedence over others?

Let’s look at how to go about choosing your own pack, consisting of both Free-To-Air (FTA) as well as paid channels. At the outset, something must be made very clear: cable TV operators and DTH operators will not be force-feeding you the channels that they want.

The first regulation under the new framework is that users will be required to choose from a basic of 100 channels offered by their DTH and cable operators. There will be the option of a personalised “a la carte” for all users so as to enable them to do so. Users must pick a base pack which will include a minimum of 100 channels for which individual users will have to pay a maximum of ₹130 (excluding GST). Additional/extra channels will have to be bought in individual “slots”, each of which can hold up to 25 channels. Each slot will be charged a maximum of ₹20.

What’s important to understand is that your payment to the service provider you’ve subscribed to comprises two components. The first is called the Network Capacity Fee (NCF), which is like a rental charge for the TV connection in your house. This is currently set at around ₹130. The other is the individual price of any of the “pay channels” that you select.

According to TRAI, TV channels come in “two flavours” from a price point of view. Some are free while the others are paid channels. No money is paid for FTA channels, of which there are currently 534. The MRP of paid channels varies from channel to channel and is displayed in rupees per month.

Basically, users can select any FTA channel, pay channel, or a bouquet/pack channel(s) as per their choice. The rental price of NCF as prescribed is a maximum of ₹130 per month which includes the carriage of 100 TV channels. If a user wants to the increase their capacity because they want to watch more than 100 channels, they can do so by paying an additional amount of ₹20 for the capacity of 25 additional channels.

Here’s an example: If you want to watch a total of 125 channels per month, you will be liable to pay ₹130 (NCF for 100 channels) + ₹20 (for the additional 25 channels). So that’s a total of ₹150 for 125  channels. If you want to watch 150 channels, then you have to pay another ₹20 for the slab of 125-150 channels.

The prices of non-FTA channels (or paid channels) will depend on the fee that the broadcaster has chosen to offer for their channel. As of now, users can choose from a total of 330 paid channels that will be priced anywhere between ₹0-60. Users can also opt to add multiple channels in the form of bouquets. Currently, there are 68 bouquets to choose from across 17 broadcasters.

The real question that arises is: are “Free-To-Air” channels actually 100 per cent free? Well, no. The FTA channels are a part of the base pack that users can go ahead and personalise for themselves by choosing a minimum of 100 channels out of the available 534 FTA channels and 330 paid channels. Think of it as buying imaginary pockets of free space where you can add all your free and paid channels. The free space can be modified so as to suit your TV consumption pattern. In case some of the channels you have selected out of the 100 fall under the “paid” category, you might be required to individually pay extra for those channels or opt to purchase a bouquet of paid channels. You can tweak your own set of 100 FTA channels.

On the other hand, users can also choose a bunch of paid channels instead of the FTA channels so as to avoid incurring additional costs of ₹20 for slots of 25 channels each. By doing so, the paid channels selected by the user will replace the equivalent number of FTA channels in the minimum set of 100 channels and the user will only have to pay for the minimum base pack (₹130 + GST) and an additional charge for any of the paid channels—and not pay extra for “slots”.

Likewise, customers who don’t want to remove any of their 100 available FTA channels but want to add extra paid channels separately will be liable to pay the minimum base price (₹130 + GST) and be charged for the total number of paid channels over and above this, and finally be charged for slots where these additional channels can be fit in at the rate of ₹20 for every 25 channels.

For example, if a customer wants to add 25 paid channels to his already configured base package of 100 FTA channels, he/she will have to pay ₹130 + charges for “x” paid channels + ₹20 for a slot of 25 extra channels + GST.

Lastly, it is important to note that the 100 FTA channels that one can avail of will include 22 Doordarshan channels that are compulsory to take as a part of the 100.

All in all, it will take a while for users to get accustomed to choosing a monthly package that works best for them. Some of the DTH operators Newslaundry spoke with, on condition of anonymity, estimated it will take at least one or two months for customers to familiarise themselves with TRAI’s new policy guidelines. They also said that since February 1, 2019, they have “obviously” been receiving a lot of phone calls from customers trying to wrap their heads around the change in policies. One operator said, “Any change in any scenario in any industry is not going to go down smoothly. TRAI is just trying to ensure that there is enough transparency to allow customers to pay for whatever they choose to watch.”

Currently, there are more than 170 million homes with connected TV devices across the country. Given this, it comes as no surprise that DTH and Cable TV operators are finding their websites and call centres overloaded with disgruntled customers, calling to figure out how to interpret and implement the new TRAI guidelines.