The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has come up with the deadline to implement the New Tariff Order (NTO) 2.0 from December 1, 2021, to April 1, 2022. The decision of TRAI will provide a major respite to the distribution platform operators (DPOs) and broadcasters. Notably, TRAI has come up with a new implementation plan for NTO in order to ease the migration of subscribers to the new regime. The new TRAI implementation plan indicates that the DPOs will have to ensure that they offer services to subscribers as per the NTO 2.0 norms. This will come into effect from April 1, 2022.
New TRAI Implementation
TRAI has extended the deadline based on the request it received from several service providers, DTH operators, broadcasters, MSOs and DPOs. The authority made the decision after discussing with same with stakeholders in order to understand the time needed for the smooth migration process of subscribers to the new order. To a letter that TRAI has sent to the stakeholders, it stated that due to the complexities and magnitude of the involved processes and keeping the past experiences in mind, it will be prudent that enough time should be offered for the migration of subscribers to New Regulatory Framework 2020 to avoid the inconvenience. Ample time for exercising an informed choice is the basic premise of the New Regulatory Framework 2020 that will ensure easy implementation of the New Regulatory Framework, stated the authority. Given that the new TRAI pricing regime that has been introduced will come into effect from April 1, 2022, the DPOs will be required to seek permission to provide new bouquet subscriptions from the consumers. Also, the DPOs will have to get permission from February 1, 2022, to March 31, 2022, which is before the new pricing regime’s arrival. Having said that, we can get further details regarding the new pricing strategy from TRAI for the seamless migration of broadcast subscribers in the coming weeks or months.
