Hyderabad: Most set-top boxes do not bear the mark of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and do not pass the quality checks of the industries department. Cheap boxes that cost between Rs1,500 and Rs 2,000 usually stop working within a year or two of purchase and cannot be repaired.

G. Chaudhari from Alwal says, “I have been following-up with my local operator for the past 15 days regarding my faulty set-top box. He told me that the motherboard of the TV was at fault, so I had it replaced it at a cost of Rs 8,000. But the fault was with the set-top box, even the TV mechanic said that. The operator is not replacing or repairing it.”

Farida Ahmed of Masab Tank has also been having problems with her set-top box. “I got a Hathway connection about four months back and was charged Rs 1,200 for each set-top, which is more than the actual cost. The cable operator said that he was charging a higher price to provide the best service. One of my set-top boxes has not been working properly for the past month. I have made several complaints to my cable operator. He now says that I will have to purchase a new box.” The cable network in the city is controlled by multi-system operators (MSOs) that have contracts with channels. They, in turn, sublease networks to local cable operators. There are around 4,000 such operators in Hyderabad.

A majority of the households in Greater Hyderabad have Hathway or City Vision cable connections. Operators charge between Rs 1,200 and Rs 1,500 for each set-top box. However, the boxes that are supplied come without the BIS mark, which is an indicator of quality, and there is no way for them to be repaired if they stop working. Over the past couple of months, over 80,000 customers have booked new set-top boxes and paid their local operators for them. However, the supply of boxes has been delayed because local operators owe the MSOs crores of rupees.

When asked about the delay in the supply of set-top boxes, a cable operator supplying Hathway connections blames it on a manufacturing delay, and says that the demand will be met soon. Meanwhile, MSOs do not want to talk about faulty set-top boxes and the fact that they do not bear the BIS mark. A senior officer from the industries department of Telangana says, “The manufacturers bypass quality checks and release their products to the market. No fines have been levied as yet.”