Subscription charges for cable TV may go up from August with operators threatening that "arbitrary hike" in rates by pay channels, coupled with increased electricity charges, may force them to pass on the burden to the public.
"Following the decision of TRAI to revert on its order of connectivity, broadcasters have resorted to blackmailing, arbitrarily telling us that our subscribers have gone up and thus we have to pay more," Roop Sharma of Cable Operators Federation of India told newspersons in New Delhi.
The operators, including Cable Networks Association and National Cable Telecommunications Association, also submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, highlighting what they alleged was "unfair, unjustified and monopolistic practices of broadcasters."
Sharma said currently the average price for a cable subscriber was around Rs 200. "If the government does not take immediate steps to regulate the pricing structure and methodology of pay channels, then the prices may almost double from August," she said.
She said broadcasters may again jack up prices in July, which would put additional burden on the cable operators.
In the joint momorandum, the cable operators alleged that the prices of pay channels had increased by a whopping 1100 per cent since 1995 with satellite broadcasters "indulging in frequent arbitrary hikes in rates of pay channels."
