ITV

Tag: commercial establishment

  • Indian broadcasters push for separate commercial TV rates as streaming bites

    Indian broadcasters push for separate commercial TV rates as streaming bites

    MUMBAI: Indian television broadcasters are mounting a fierce campaign to restore separate pricing for commercial and household subscribers, arguing that forcing hotels and restaurants to pay the same rates as ordinary homes is killing their business. 

    The Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF), which represents the country’s main TV networks, has petitioned the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to scrap uniform pricing rules introduced in 2015. The lobby group contends that charging a Mumbai hotel chain the same rates as a middle-class family is not just outdated—it is commercial suicide. 

    “Like every other industry, TV services should recognise the higher value and different use cases in commercial environments,” the IBDF argued in its submission to TRAI. Before 2015, broadcasters enjoyed the freedom to charge premium rates to businesses and negotiate terms directly with commercial customers. That changed when TRAI imposed a one-size-fits-all pricing regime, stripping away broadcasters’ ability to set distinct commercial tariffs. Now, as television viewership plummets in favour of digital streaming platforms like Netflix,  Amazon Prime Video, JioHotstar, Z5 and SonyLiv,  broadcasters are fighting for their financial lives. 

    They argue that restoring separate, higher tariffs for commercial users could help the traditional TV industry weather the streaming storm. 

    TRAI has launched a review of the pricing structure and is consulting stakeholders—including broadcasters, direct-to-home providers, and cable operators—on whether uniform rates should continue. The regulator has not indicated when it might reach a decision. 

    The IBDF has branded the current rules as “too restrictive” and wants a return to flexible, market-driven negotiations with commercial subscribers. For an industry grappling with declining reach and stagnant subscription revenues, every rupee counts.

     The outcome of TRAI’s review could reshape India’s television landscape, determining whether broadcasters can extract more value from their dwindling commercial customer base or remain trapped in a uniform pricing straitjacket as viewers continue their exodus to streaming services.  

  • TRAI amends tariff order for commercial subscribers

    TRAI amends tariff order for commercial subscribers

    MUMBAI: After having invited comments from stakeholders regarding the imposition of tariff on commercial subscribers, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has come out with the amendment to the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services (Second) Tariff Order, 2004 (6 of 2004).

     

    The twelfth amendment will come into effect from the date of its publication in the official gazette.

     

    Going with the 24 responses to the earlier consultation pepper, there is no distinction between an ordinary and a commercial subscriber. The definition of a ‘commercial establishment’ (CE) has been included and ‘commercial subscriber’ (CS) has been amended.

     

    Accordingly, the new definition of a CE is “any premises wherein any trade, business or any work in connection with, or incidental or ancillary thereto, is carried on and includes a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 (21 of 1860), and charitable or other trust, whether registered or not, which carries on any business, trade or work in connection with, or incidental or ancillary thereto, journalistic,   printing and  publishing  establishments,  educational,  healthcare  or  other institutions run for private gain, theatres, cinemas, restaurants, eating houses, pubs, bars, residential hotels, malls, airport lounges, clubs or other places of public amusements or entertainment”.

     

    The definition of a CS is “any person who receives broadcasting services or cable services at a place indicated by him to a cable operator or multi system operator or direct to home operator or head end in the sky operator or Internet Protocol television service provider, as the case may be, and uses such services for the benefit of his clients, customers, members or any other class or group of persons having access to his commercial establishment.”

     

    Abiding by a recent Supreme Court verdict, TRAI has stated that in the rates of TV services, there should be no differentiation between an ordinary subscriber and a commercial subscriber and the charges for both should be per TV set basis. This is applicable when the establishment does not specifically charge the customer for the service. In case, it does, then the broadcaster and the CS can mutually agree on the tariff.

     

    A broadcaster cannot directly supply signals to the CS just as the same isn’t done for an ordinary subscriber. The CS can obtain signals only from a distribution platform operator such as MSO, DTH operator, cable operator, IPTV operator or a HITS operator. This is in line with the rule regarding downlinking of TV channels in India, which states that an applicant company can provide decoders only to registered distribution platforms.

     

    This would also ensure competition to be healthy.

     

    The point regarding sub categorisation of commercial subscribers into similarly-placed groups has been dismissed with only one distinction of those who provide it as part of their amenities to guests and those who don’t.

     

    The regulator expects that with this amendment, the distribution of TV services to commercial subscribers will be streamlined and the services would be available at competitive rates.

     

    Click here for the ammendment

     

    Click here for the press release