DAS Phase I: TRAI puts pressure on MSOs, asks for subscriber billing info

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has asked the multi-system operators (MSOs) to send a compliance report on the status of subscriber billing in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata that were covered under Phase I of Digital Addressable System (DAS). 

The deadline for sending the compliance report to the authority is 15 November. 

The broadcast sector regulator has also sought information pertaining to interconnection agreements between MSOs and their linked local cable operators (LCOs).

 “The ground reality is not very rosy as the tussle between MSOs and LCOs continues. Packaging, billing and agreements between MSOs and LCOs are issues still to be sorted out. TRAI is going to put pressure on the interested parties to get things moving on all fronts of digitisation,” said a senior executive of a leading MSO on condition of anonymity. 

The QoS regulation stipulates that the MSOs providing cable TV services through DAS are responsible for generation of bills for the subscribers. 

The MSOs are also responsible for providing cable TV services on both prepaid and postpaid payment options to the subscribers. 

Further, the regulation provides that the MSO or its linked LCOs have to issue a proper receipt for every payment made by the subscriber. 

The regulation also requires MSOs to provide usage details of postpaid service. Subscribers who opt for postpaid service will be billed on a monthly basis and the bill shall contain the Service Tax registration number and the Entertainment Tax registration number of the MSO. As per the regulation, the entries in the bills shall be itemised to indicate the price of individual channels or bouquet of channels along with the rates of taxes levied and the charges for value added services availed by the subscriber. 

As per the regulation, the MSOs shall give 15 days’ time to every subscriber for making payment of the bill from the date of the bill. In case the subscriber fails to make payment after expiry of the due date of payment, the MSO or its linked LCO may charge simple interest of 12 per cent per annum on the amount due for the delay in making payment. 

The MSOs or their linked LCOs are also obliged to provide prepaid subscribers the information relating to the itemised usage charges showing actual usage of service at a reasonable cost. Every MSO must allow subscribers to migrate from prepaid to postpaid plan or vice versa without any extra charge. 

The TRAI diktat on subscriber billing comes in the wake of its 31 October order asking MSOs providing cable TV services through DAS in Delhi and Mumbai to furnish information relating to the interconnection agreements which they entered with the linked LCOs. The sector regulator had given MSOs seven days time to furnish details of the agreements signed.

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/digitization-news/item/3556-das-phase-i-trai-puts-pressure-on-msos,-asks-for-subscriber-billing-info.htmlSource: http://cablequest.org/news/digitization-news/item/3556-das-phase-i-trai-puts-pressure-on-msos,-asks-for-subscriber-billing-info.html