KOLKATA: The multi system operators (MSOs) seem to be in full swing to bring the gross billing system in place. This time, to discuss the smooth rollout of gross billing in the Kolkata Municipal Area (KMA), the national representatives of MSOs that included SitiCable Network and Den Networks, along with the local players like Manthan and AMBC among few others met and signed a deal to expedite the process. 

Kolkata has 30 lakh cable homes and most of them still get ad hoc bills from the MSOs. Thus, to implement the gross (consumer) billing for January, and bring transparency in the entire process, the MSOs have requested cable TV subscribers to ask for bills from the local cable operators (LCOs) before paying the monthly subscription charges.

In fact, in order to ensure that the gross billing process is smooth in the KMA area, the MSOs from national and eastern regions meet regularly, especially after West Bengal and the central government authorities have asked them to speed up the process.

“Today’s meeting was on the smooth rollout of the billing. Customers should ask for a bill from the LCOs before paying their bills every month,” said AMBC managing director Sujit Das.

Siticable Kolkata director Suresh Sethia also brought to notice that the MSOs have conducted a check on the overall implementation of digital addressable system (DAS) including the billing and collection process.  

According to the regulations set by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), subscribers will get 15 days from the date of the bill to make the payment. “In case the subscriber fails to make the payment till the due date, we may charge interest on the outstanding amount,” said Sethia, also adding that in the recent meeting the MSOs have decided to be firm on these agendas.

The seriousness of the MSOs is evident as most of them have uploaded the bills on the server, and some have even given the print outs to the LCOs so that bill collection can be done, remarked a city based analyst.