Cable TV to become dearer by 15%

Hike comes after Trai approaches SC for permission to review original Tariff Order of 2004 in order make

Cable TV subscribers will have to pay 15% more from today (1 April) according to a The Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services (second) Tariff (Eleventh Amendment) Order, 2014 passed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) yesterday (March 31).

The hike comes after TRAI had approached the Supreme Court for permission to review the original Tariff Order of 2004 in order make adjustments for inflation. In February 2014, the Supreme Court allowed the regulatory body to review and the tariff ceiling for cable television subscribers. As a result the proposed hike is 27.5%.

However, the regulator has also informed that the entire hike will not be imposed at once since the consumers may find the increase too drastic. Hence, in the first phase, starting today, the cable subscription tariff will increase by 15%.

The second installment for the remaining inflation linked increase shall be made effective from 1st January 2015 thorough a separate tariff order to be issued subsequently. This is expected to give enough and reasonable time to all the stakeholders to adjust to these hikes.

This is the fourth hike since the order came into force on October 1, 2004 after the inflationary hikes of seven% in 2005, four% in 2006 and seven% in 2009.