Highlights Dish TV has introduced a new scheme called 'Mera Apna Pack'

The channel choosing deadline has been extended to March 31 by Trai

Over the last few weeks, DTH and Cable TV subscribers have been complaining about the new tariff regime introduced by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). In a view of controlling the damage, DTH operators are providing unlimited FTA channels within the base pack. The change was first implemented by Sun Direct which was then followed by Tata Sky and other operators. And now, Dish TV joins the list as it has introduced a scheme called ‘Mera Apna Pack.’ As part of this scheme, Dish TV subscribers will not be charged for any number of FTA channels they choose in the pack. Dish TV has written on its website as ‘No Network Capacity Fee (NCF) on FTA channels chosen by you if you have selected any pay channel.’ This move comes as a big relief for Dish TV users as they’re facing numerous issues related to the channel subscription.

FTA Channels in Regional Languages and Genres

With the new Dish TV update, subscribers will be able to choose from a variety of channels from all the FTA choices available. Notably, to access these FTA channels subscribers would not have to pay the NCF for these channels thus saving them a lot of money which they would have otherwise spent while subscribing to these channels. For the ease of the consumers, Dish TV has also classified its FTA channels into various categories which include BST North with 189 channels, BST Hindi with 99 channels, BST Marathi and Gujarati with 84 channels, BST Bangla Odia with 83 channels, and BST DD Pack with 25 channels.

The catch with the new Dish TV order is that subscribers will still be paying for the 100 channels with the Rs 130 NCF charge as dictated by the Trai. The NCF of Rs 130 (exclusive of all taxes) will get the subscribers 100 FTA SD channels or 50 HD channels, as per the mandate, subscribers will have to pay Rs 20 to get additional 25 channels on their subscription. Now the new move by Dish TV makes it possible for the subscribers to get all the FTA channels in the same Rs 130 fee and they won’t have to pay any additional slab fee to watch these channels. Things, however, change when you add pay channels to your cart.

All FTA Channels Available in Rs 130

When a subscriber adds pay channel to his or her car, then they will not only have to pay the NCF for that particular channel but also the content charge of that channel as well. Before this new introduction, Dish TV was charging more NCF from the subscribers who were watching more than 100 channels which brings to light another point about the latest move by Dish TV; that it will be beneficial for the customers who are subscribing to more than 100 channels only. Other subscribers who have less than 100 channels in their cart will not see any change in pricing.

Dish TV subscribers should also be aware that after the introduction of the new Trai mandate, Dish TV has introduced many SD and HD add-on packs which have been divided based on genres and regional languages. The SD add-on packs of Dish TV start at Rs 6 while the HD add-on packs start at Rs 19.