Telecom regulator TRAI said 9 crore out of 17 crore TV homes have made their channel preferences to onboard the new tariff regime.

“The speed (of onboarding) has increased as per our data and we expect the rest of the people to also register their choice of channels soon,” said Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman R.S. Sharma.

Sharma, who is spearheading TRAI’s new tariff and regulatory framework for broadcasting and cable services, said of the 9 crore TV homes that have made their channel preferences clear, 6.5 crore are cable TV homes and 2.5 crore are DTH customers.

“Out of the total 17 crore TV homes (which includes 7 crore DTH homes and 10 crore cable TV homes), about 9 crore homes have already registered their choice with the operators, which is a big number,” he said.

Since DTH is a pre-paid model, as and when customers’ long- and short-duration packs come to an end, people will make channel selection, he said.

“We are guiding and helping the operators wherever required and are calling regular meetings to clarify matters,” he said.

The regulator also plans to step up efforts on customer outreach and awareness programmes. “TRAI will take up a massive campaign on consumer awareness, through social media, print, advertisements, jingles and other programmes,” he said.

Last week, TRAI had asked platform operators to revert on special schemes and plans for households with multiple TV connections. TRAI had made it clear that players have to allow individual set top boxes (even within a same household) to have separate choice of channels, if the consumer wishes.

As per the regulations, players can also choose to offer discounts, even waive off the network capacity fee (a maximum of Rs 130) on the subsequent connections in the same household. But such discounts have to be offered uniformly in a location and declared transparently on the players’ website.

The regulator has unveiled the new tariff order and regulatory regime for the broadcast and cable sector, which paves the way for consumers to opt for channels they wish to view, and pay only for them. It has said every channel should be offered a la carte, with a transparent display of rates on electronic programme guide. The new framework came into effect from February 1.

A recent Crisil report had claimed that the cost of TV viewing may rise by 25 per cent under the new regime, but TRAI had refuted the claim citing data from two market players to argue that prices in specific locations such as Delhi and Mumbai have come down.