TRAI extends CAF submission deadline for Delhi NCR subscribers till July 10

Cable TV subscribers in Delhi NCR who haven't filled up their mandatory channel subscription forms (CSF) yet, now have time until July 10 to do so - for the final time.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) extended the deadline following a meeting with all the national Multi-System Operators (MSOs) in the city, to review the status of the submission of the CAF by Digital Addressable Cable TV System subscribers. The regulatory body was told that while there has been a significant rise in the number of subscribers submitting their completely filled forms, there are still a lot of subscribers in the city who are yet to do so. MSOs at the meeting attributed this delay to the complexity of the task at hand, and subsequently requested an extension to complete the task. Simply put, subscribers have to ensure that their duly filled forms are submitted to their MSOs before July 10 or face a blackout.

Extension for the final time!

In its official statement TRAI has stressed that this is the final extension that it will agree to in this respect. The body is hoping to achieve completion by then.

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry few years back had started the initiative of digitisation of cable services throughout the country and were expected to reach their goal by December, 2013. This programme was initially started by making digitisation compulsory in the metropolitan cities, viz. Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

Though this move was welcomed by most of the cable TV subscribers, many did not favour this move and still have not installed a set-top-box, which is a must for digitisation. This meant that the deadline had to be extended. The programme, now in its third phase, which is expected to end on September 30, 2014, will cover all the cities and towns missed in the initial two phases, while the fourth phase will cover the rest of India by the end of 2014.