Govt sets Rs 250 as minimum monthly fee for TV channels as it plans to go ahead with a la carte pricing system

Kathmandu, August 25

The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology has established a minimum monthly consumer fee of Rs 250 per subscriber for television channels. This fee has been set through the implementation of the a la carte pricing system for television services.

On Thursday, Minister for Communication and Information Technology, Rekha Sharma said service providers could only collect monthly fees from consumers based on the new government regulations.

As per the ministry’s directive, this regulation will be applicable to all broadcasting organisations including cable, DTH, MSO, MMDS, IPTV, and DTTV. Licensed organisations are required to offer all Nepali channels along with complimentary foreign channels to consumers, all covered under a monthly minimum fee of Rs 250.

The service providers, however, will be able to charge an additional amount for people who want more channels. However, unlike right now, consumers no longer have to for channels they do not want.

Service providers must now get their fees approved by the ministry. Then the new fee comes into effect as soon as the service providers get their fees approved.

According to the ministry’s spokesperson, Netra Prasad Subedi, the highest a service provider can now charge a consumer for all channels is Rs 470 per month.

The government introduced the a la carte pricing system on March 29 and urged companies to implement it as soon as possible. However, the service provider, stating it had not received the bouquet from India, did not meet the government deadline of July 17.

Following that, the government halted the broadcast of paid foreign channels after which service providers started to submit their proposals.

“This is international practice and it will be implemented in Nepal,” said Subedi.