Consumers unhappy with set-top boxes

Fewer channels, complete blackouts and poor services are some of the complaints of the television viewers who switched to set-top boxes recently. The government had made digitisation mandatory from November 1.

Fewer channels, complete blackouts and poor services are some of the complaints of the television viewers who switched to set-top boxes recently. The government had made digitisation mandatory from November 1.

HT Image

“I have not been getting several regional channels, which I earlier watched,” said Goregaon resident Mangala Padwal, who bought a set-top box last week. Another Goregaon resident complained of a complete blackout from Thursday, despite having a set-top box for several years.

“We did not receive any channel till Saturday. Technical error was the only message flashing on our screen,” said Shilpa Tergaonkar, who shared the problem with most residents in her society.

“The operators have given away poor quality set-top boxes with old technology. In some cases, people haven’t been given the know your customer (KYC) forms or the unique identification code for electronic billing,” said Roop Sharma, president, Cable Operators’ Federation of India. “Digitisation was made compulsory to ensure transparency and quality for customers. With both not being achieved, the purpose of this exercise has been defeated.”

“Several operators have not been able to upgrade their network and infrastructure,” he said.

The association has filed an appeal with the Supreme Court on Monday to get the deadline for digitisation in the city extended till December.

Several operators said that all channels are not being provided to customers who bought set-top boxes over the last few days.

“Customers are being given select free-to-air channels, as we could not get the KYC forms filled,” said Digambar Basutkar, manager, Digi Cable that operates from Byculla to Colaba. “However, we have asked local operators to get the details within the next week,” he said.