TRAI announces quality of service rules for DTH

NEW DELHI: The DTH (direct to home) operators have been barred from disabling the set-top boxes of the subscribers who choose to opt out of their service.

In comprehensive regulations announced on Friday to ensure quality of service in the DTH sector, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) made clear that subscriber will not be made victim for choosing not to take the service anymore.

In absence of any regulation, the DTH operators have been disabling the set-top box of the subscriber by transmitting a software through the dish, rendering it dead for the purpose of receiving free channels provided by the Doordarshan's DTH, DD Direct.

The subscriber then had to cough up anywhere between Rs 2000 to Rs 4000 for a new set top box from the market to re-use the purchased dish for watching free channels.

In another significant provision benefiting subscribers, 'Direct to Home Broadcasting Services (Standards of Quality of Service and Redressal of Grievances) Regulation, 2007' also barred operators from changing schemes and packages earlier than a period of six months.

The subscriber, however, can opt out of one package to go for another any time, say the new rules which come in force from December 1 this year. The regulator said by the time the subscriber got the hang of complex packages and tariffs, the scheme changed, resulting in frustration and often additional costs.