Bengaluru: Cable television operators are livid over the enforcement of a la carte system as they believe it would burden the consumers and affect their business.
Karnataka State Cable Television Operators Association President V.S. Patrick Raju told Deccan Chronicle that the Centre is enforcing a la carte system on choosing the television channels would favour corporates and throw traditional cable TV operators out of business.
Under the new system traditional cable operators would stand to lose a major chunk of their revenue. It would affect 17,000 cable operators across the state and about 1,800 of them in the city alone, Raju pointed out.
Ideally, free to air channels are available at Rs 152, including a GST of 18 per cent. Choosing channel on a la carte basis would be expensive for customers.
For instance, a Kannada or Telugu speaking family would subscribe to the local channels, few sports channels and cartoon channels. In addition, some Hindi and English channels will be chosen. Though no family would watch or see all the channels every day, there are some channels which are preferred, he explained.
Going by a la carte, each household will have to shell out at least Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000. What is the point in introducing this system when the cost of the cable fee or Direct To Home (DTH) is not coming down. Why should the ministry of Information and Broadcasting enforce such a measure?, Raju wonders.
He suggested that citizens should be given a free hand in picking the channels on a la carte basis or package basis.
Why should the GST be 18 per cent for such services? They should be nominal at 6 per cent to benefit the consumers as there are no recurring expenses, he suggested.
He wanted the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India to educate the citizens on the advantages and disadvantages of the new system rather than coercing the consumers.
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