50 shades of TV viewing: How Trai's new tariff order made it complicated

Trai's new tariff order has ushered in transparency and plugged leakages, bringing in better revenues for the industry. But it has made it more expensive to watch TV

Ranbir Singh Kanwar, 31, from Madangiri, New Delhi, works at a sourcing firm. Till January this year he paid Rs 250 a month to his local cable operator. Soon after the New Tariff Order, or NTO, from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) was implemented in February, he had to choose from the packages the operator offered. Now he pays Rs 350 per month for 160-170 channels against the full buffet of channels that he got pre-NTO. 

“I have no problem with the price increase because it had been Rs 200-250 for so many years. But the channels we