Lok Sabha Question No. 550 (STARRED), answered on 2018-04-05
Subject: DTH Service Providers
Ministry: INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING
Asked by: KUNWAR HARIBANSH SINGH, SUDHEER GUPTA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. *550 (TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.04.2018)

## DTH SERVICE PROVIDERS

## *550.   SHRI KUNWAR HARIBANSH SINGH: SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA:

Will the Minister of INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is aware that many customers are not happy/satisfied with their DTH service providers;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  number  of  complaints  received  by  the Government along with the reasons therefor during each of the last three years and the current year;
- (c) the steps taken/being taken by the Government to resolve/address each and every complaint in a time bound manner;
- (d)      whether the Government proposes to bring DTH portability like mobile number portability  to  help  unhappy/dissatisfied  customers  to  switch  over  to  other  service providers  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  time  by  which  it  is  likely  to  be implemented; and
- (e)     the steps taken/being taken by the Government to boost healthy competition among DTH service providers and bring down DTH price in the country?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING (SMT. SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

- (a) to (e): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *550 FOR ANSWER ON 05.04.2018

(a) and  (b)  A  total  number  of  1922  complaints/grievances  against  private  DTH service providers have  been  received through Centralized Public  Grievance Redress And Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) in this Ministry during the last three years  and  the  current  year  on  various  issues  involving  technical/financial/policy matter viz. delay or improper installation, malfunctioning of Set-Top-Box, issues of interoperability, unauthorised disconnection, disruption of signal during bad weather, improper billing, recharge, service charges, subscription rates, tariff order, channel package, free-to-air and duration of advertisements. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) also receives Consumer Complaints against DTH service providers. The details of complaints against DTH service providers received in this Ministry as well  as  TRAI  (as  informed  by  TRAI)  during  each  of  the  last  three  years  and  the current year are given below:-

| S.No.   | Year   | No. of Complaints received in Ministry of Information and Broadcasting   | No. of Complaints received in TRAI   |
|---------|--------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
| 1       | 2015   | 448                                                                      | 354                                  |
| 2       | 2016   | 651                                                                      | 562                                  |
| 3       | 2017   | 672                                                                      | 418                                  |
| 4       | 2018   | 151 (till 02.04.2018)                                                    | 147 (till 26.03.2018)                |
|         | Total  | 1922                                                                     | 1481                                 |

(c) Out  of  1922  complaints/grievances,  1811  complaints/grievances  have  been addressed by this Ministry till date.  As soon as the complaints are received in this Ministry, the same are forwarded to the concerned DTH operators for redressal and also followed up with the  concerned DTH operators for redressal. After receipt of information  about  the  redressal  of  grievance  from  DTH  operators  the  same  is uploaded on CPGRAMS for disposal. The grievances related to subscription rate, tariff  order  and  channel  package  are  forwarded  to  TRAI  for  redressal  under intimation  to  this  Ministry.  The  regulation  of  TRAI  namely  'The  Direct  to  Home Broadcasting Services (Standards of Quality of Service and Redressal of Grievances) Regulation, 2007 dated 31 st August 2007, as amended on 12 th March 2009, essentially covers regulatory provisions relating to protection of the interests of  DTH  subscribers.  Ministry  of  Information  and  Broadcasting  has  also  held  a meeting on 11.09.2017 with DTH operators on Grievance Redressal Mechanism of DTH  Service  Providers.    During  the  meeting,  the  representatives  from  DTH operators  explained  that  the  subscribers  in  connection  with  their  grievance  can reach them through Customer Care Numbers (Toll Free) and e-mail communication and can also  escalate  their  grievances/complaints  to  higher  levels  if  they  are  not satisfied with the redressal provided.

(d) Telecom  Regulatory  Authority  of  India  (TRAI)  in  its  recommendations  on 'Issues  relating  to  New  DTH  Licenses'  dated  23.07.2014  has  recommended replacement of license condition at clause 7.1 of the existing DTH guidelines which stipulated that 'The Open Architecture (Non-proprietary) Set Top Box (STB), which will ensure technical compatibility and effective interoperability among different DTH service providers, shall have such specifications as laid down by the Government from time to time' with 'The Set Top Box offered by a DTH service provider shall have such specifications as laid down by the Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) from time to time'.  TRAI further recommended that BIS should come out with updated specifications for STBs from time to time and while doing so, BIS shall consult TRAI and that the license conditions should mandate the licensee to comply with the tariff order/scheme  prescribed  by  TRAI  for  commercial  interoperability.    The  InterMinisterial-Committee  (IMC)  constituted  for  the  purpose  of  examining  the  TRAI recommendations have recommended that the matter may be taken up with Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and Bureau of Indian Standard.  Ministry of Information and Broadcasting have accepted the recommendations of IMC and have referred the matter to Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS).  Policy making is a dynamic and ongoing process which takes considerable time.

(e) To boost healthy competition among DTH service providers and bring down DTH price in country, TRAI has laid down a comprehensive regulatory framework through the 'The Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Standards of Quality of Service and Consumer Protection (Addressable Systems) Regulations, 2017'  and  'The  Telecommunication  (Broadcasting  and  Cable)  services  (Eighth) (Addressable  Systems)  Tariff  Order,  2017'.  Presently,  the  subject  matter  is  subjudice.

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