Arasu Cable Package of 190 channels will be available for Rs.154

Arasu Cable Package of 190 channels will be available for Rs.154

Arasu Cable slashes its subscription rates
Aiming to arrest the slide in its subscriber base since the new TRAI tariff regime kicked in earlier this year, Arasu Cable has revised down its subscription rates, with effect from August 10.

The new subscription rate for a package comprising around 190 channels will be Rs.154.

Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami made the announcement in a statement. “Based on requests from the people, the cable television tariff for Tamil Nadu [except Vellore] under Arasu Cable has been fixed at ₹130, plus GST,” Mr. Palaniswami said.

With a GST rate of 18%, it works out to ₹154. In its new tariff mandate earlier this year, TRAI fixed a rental of ₹130 plus GST for 100 channels as the basic fee for a network to carry 100 channels. The move caused major disruption in the market, especially for Arasu Cable as it made it difficult for the Tamil Nadu government to fix the subscription rate.

Following TRAI’s tariff order, Arasu Cable had to revise its packages. It offered three packages — a basic package at ₹120 plus GST with all Free-To-Air (FTA) channels, a package at ₹200 plus GST and another that offered 191 channels at ₹220 plus GST.

Mr. Palaniswami said the Cable Corporation had distributed 35.12 lakh set-top boxes free of cost to its subscribers till date. In the last few months, Arasu Cable found that of the 35 lakh STBs that were distributed, only 24 lakh were active, suggesting that almost 11 lakh subscribers had moved to other networks owing to the sudden increase in pricing. The new pricing is an attempt to bring its subscribers back to the network.