The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Wednesday (6 January) said the latest tariff regime would be reducing the monthly subscription costs by nearly 15 per cent in metropolitan cities, the ET Telecom reports.

TRAI Chairman RS Sharma, said, “We expect bills will go down. Everything will be determined by market forces, and there was no upper cap while the content pricing is under forbearance.”

Sharma cited the statistics based on choices of 1.5 million users, which was provided by the IndusInd Media and Communication Limited (IMCL).

The average revenue per user (ARPU) has reduced from 15 per cent to 10 per cent in metropolitan cities, he said, while adding up to ten per cent in the areas of the Digital Addressable System (DAS) under phase III and IV.

Under the new regime, a consumer in Mumbai could save Rs 54 per month and pay Rs 271 against Rs 325, and consumers in Delhi will pay Rs 267 per month as compared to Rs 303 previously.

Earlier, Crisil had stated that the new regime would mean that the monthly bill would increase by 25 per cent, from Rs 230 or Rs 240 to Rs 300 monthly for viewers opting for ten channels.

The TRAI, in its defence, said that Crisil’s findings are based on assumption. Further, Sharma argues that the chances of a subscriber watching content in different languages and the two channels having the same content is highly unlikely.

He says the aim of the new regime is transparency and consumers empowerment, not pricing. According to BARC data, around 90 per cent consumers watch 50 or fewer channels, he said, while adding that the new system is a pull model compared to the earlier adapted push strategy of platform service providers.