The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has revised the last date for implementation of Tariff Order Amendment 2020 commonly known as NTO 2.0 due to requests from various stakeholders. The deadline is extended from December 1, 2021, to April 1, 2022.
The regulatory body said that various service providers expressed concerns regarding insufficient time for migration of 150 million pay-TV subscribers to the new regime and creating an ecosystem for implementation of the NTO 2.0 framework.
Based on these issues raised by stakeholders, TRAI has decided to give sufficient time for smooth implementation of NTO 2.0, allowing service providers to upgrade their IT systems and incorporate new channels, packages and avoid inconvenience to viewers.
According to the new timeline, broadcasters are required to submit their NTO 2.0 complying reference interconnect offer (RIO) by December 31, 2021, while DPOs must disclose information on distribution retail prices of channels, the composition of bouquets of pay and free-to-air channels by January 31, 2022.
Service providers are allowed to receive subscriptions of new bouquets or channels from customers between February 1, 2022, to March 31, 2022, and ensure that all subscribers are migrated to new channels/ packs as per their choice from April 1, 2022.
Earlier, broadcasters had released their updated channel pricing in compliance with NTO 2.0 and kept driver channels out of bouquets which will cause at least a 50% hike in consumers’ monthly bills. The matter of NTO 2.0 is currently in the Supreme Court and the court is expected to pronounce judgement on November 30.
80 replies
Loading new replies...
Join the full discussion at the DreamDTH Forums →