Karnataka Cable Operators Call Strike on January 24 to Protest New TRAI Rules; 60 Lakh TV Screens to Go Dark

Bengaluru, January 17: The Karnataka Cable Television Operators' Association has scheduled a strike on January 24 to protest against the new TRAI rules, calling them detrimental to the interests of cable operators as well as the subscribers. The strike will affect nearly 60 lakh users of the conventional TV cable in the state, as the screens will remain dark from morning 6am to 10pm in the night.

As per the new rules of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India or TRAI, the cable operators will have to rejig their rate cards -- charging the subscribers on per channel basis. The TRAI guidelines make it mandatory for the cable operators to present a rate card before the subscriber, with the latter being given the freedom to choose only the set of channels he wants to. Your Cable Bill May Rise by Rs 200 With New TRAI Rules Coming Into Effect - Report.

Each channel is placed a price bracket of Rs 1-19 per month. According to the cable operators, the new rule will force the subscriber to pay more than what he is currently shelling out.

"At present, the operators are giving 450 channels for Rs 300 and if the new rules come into place, the subscriber will end up paying Rs 1,500 for same number of channels," the cable operators association chief VS Patrick Raju was quoted as saying by The Hindu.

A similar strike is being planned by the cable operators in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. On December 27, cable operators across the nation joined hands to cut-off services for three primetime hours -- between 7:30pm to 10:30 pm to mark their dissent. The protesting bodies have alleged that the new rules are intended to benefit the corporate lobby, specifically those providing direct-to-home or DTH services.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 17, 2019 10:51 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).