Ramblings of a Frustrated Chennai Vasi…

Today a reader of this blog, Ganesh commented in this post: Why CAS may still be good for Chennai.

I think it’s his original writing and so decided to post here. for others to see….

Here it goes:

CAS came into force in Chennai in 1993. And it took nearly 4 Years for other metros to follow suit. TRAI took the best of efforts to see that CAS is implemented and with the best support from the Judiciary, things were in place. 2007 dawned for three metros, viz., Delhi, Mumbai and Calcutta, changing the way the people watched television.

There were people, applied a theory of wait and watch, people immediately swallowed the DTH, people applied for STBs with various MSOs. And the most benefited person was the consumer. The guidelines were clear, the prices reasonable, and the schemes attractive. Consumers in Delhi, Mumbai and Calcutta were lured by DTH service providers, MSOs and THE CUSTOMER WAS THE KING!!

TRAI arranged reviews, spoke to operators and consumers and the result were good and the appreciation was flowing from all corners. Then concessions were announced for bouquets of channels and the price cap of Rs.5/- came down as low as Rs.3/- as schemed out by some MSOs. Then there was rush for STBs and the MSOs were running out of ideas to meet the demand, slowly but surely, the Indian television viewer was experiencing the best of Cable Television.

DTH providers jumped into the ring, and announced various schemes, giving the customers in CAS areas special packages and schemes, now it was the customer, who was put under pressure to select from options available. The market watchers were calculating the effect of CAS in advertisement revenues, and things like that.

But in the southern metro of Chennai, which claims to be the father of CAS in India, was waking up to 2007 with lot of hope on Cable front. The system which was in place was ridiculous to say the least. The Cost of the STB was around 4000 rupees and the monthly outgo was somewhere around 350-400 per month, if you are an unfortunate fan of sports and also an unfortunate non-Tamil person settled in Chennai. The sports channels were off the air so does the entertainment channels of languages other than Tamil.

There is monopoly in Cable TV and the customer was not provided with any choice but to suffer in silence. The majority of Cable viewers were not having any complaint as the family soaps, films and other genre channels in Tamil was FTA, and with ample space of time as sports were not there in the FTA Scheme of things. The only solace for the sports lovers came when the MSO provided signals of pay channels for major tournaments like the World Cup etc. The efforts by the TRAI were seen by the people as a great reliever for the people of Chennai.

The customer, especially the sports buffs and the non-tamil people in Chennai, was feeling light at the end of the tunnel, as the Dec.31st 2006 dead line approached, frantic calls were made to the Local Cable Operators as well as the MSOs for the schemes and new price lists of Channels.

But Chennai is very different from other metros. The consumers were treated as slaves; at least as far as cable TV is concerned. There are only two MSOs in Chennai, viz., Hathway, which has only negligible connections, and the Fort is held by SCV. Hathway gave a lot of information about new schemes and channel prices, but were unable to penetrate their STBs to all locations in Chennai, you know the reason!! Now the poor customers were forced to wait, wait and wait as per the instructions by the LCOs, as they are also not in a position to get any detail from the MSO, who does not have even a dedicated website.

Repeated calls to the other MSO and LCOs were falling in deaf ears. The MSO people were even hearing about TRAI for the first time, it felt. When tried to contact the MSO and asked about the details, there was point blank reply, DO NOT CONTACT US, CONTACT YOUR CABLE OPERATOR!!

At last on 1st of Jan 2007, there was some clarity about the channel prices and new schemes were announced by the MSO. But only the existing customers with STB were the relieved ones. There was no information on new rental schemes of STB, two schemes which were mandatory for any MSO in CAS Area. The rental schemes were not at all there, as per the MSO. When mentioned about the TRAI guidelines, the reply was precise. WAIT FOR SOME TIME!! Up to what time, no one really knew. Subsequently, after Pongal Festival, the application for STB on rental scheme were available with the LCO. I applied for the scheme on 18th Jan, 2007, but till date, ie., 15th February, 2007 there is no reply from the MSO. The LCO says that the application itself was not accepted by the MSO and they want us to wait for some more time!!!

Fed up with the treatment meted out to the customers, there was calls made to the DTH operators, but the worst thing was in store for the people of Chennai! The schemes announced by the DTH operators were applicable only for other metros, and not for Chennai. We, the people of Chennai, are really hurt being treated as the CHILDREN OF LESSER GOD!! When CAS was forced on the people of Chennai, there was only a whisper of protest, while the political parties in other metros, stood up and opposed CAS. The result, the costly CAS was forcefully implemented in Chennai.

As years passed, and TRAI guidelines and court orders put CAS in other metros as well. But the Chennai Cable TV viewers are still to get the benefit of new guidelines and rules. Who cares, repeated requests were falling in deaf ears, getting repeated and irritating answers from the LCO. Still things are moving on in Chennai!! Soaps continue to take the prime time of family members, the maamis and akkas glued to television sets, not knowing anything about the exploitation they are being subjected to. TRAI or HC, we are different, away from the sight of the Centre, the judiciary, the TRAI and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting!! The so-called consumer activists, when contacted, say they do not take up the case of Cable TV consumers! In Chennai, the people running around for STB are the so correctly said IDIOT box lovers!!

Till this day, the 5th of February, 2007, no STB were given on rental schemes, and the bitter fact is consumers are asked to go for the outright purchases of STB at a whopping Rupees 3800/-, which includes the security deposit for SMART CARD, which was not permitted by the TRAI.

The news channels, which are showing even celebrities honeymoon packages as news item, this serious violation of consumer rights and guidelines by a statutory authority are not being given proper attention. It seems the news channels are FTA in nature; they do not care for people running behind pay channels and STBs.

Now, this situation raises some basic questions. Does the TRAI guidelines are not applicable for Chennai? Is the Chennai people are managed by some separate laws as far as Cable TV is concerned? Does the consumer organizations really bothered about the people in this part of the country? Does the monopolistic attitude of the MSO is being protected by some central power? The answer is Yes and No!!

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