TNN

New Delhi, Apr 14: The Supreme Court on Monday voiced what consumers may have felt for years, saying "mobile and cable operators are looting people". 

Clearly, the agony to consumers subjected to inflated bills from mobile service providers and local cable operators has not escaped the notice of the apex court, particularly that of Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan.

The observation came from a Bench comprising the CJI and Justice P Sathasivam during a hearing on a petition filed by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) alleging that the striking down of its tariff regulations had put people at the mercy of broadcasters who generally club a popular channel with several not-so-popular ones and offer them as a bouquet with a 'take-all-or-none' condition.

Trai's counsel, senior advocate Harish Salve, said the regulatory body was willing to rework the tariff guidelines but opposed the plea of broadcasters that in the interim, the 2004 tariff structure should be in place. He said if the 2004 tariff was put in force, then 13 million new subscribers and 260 channels that came into existence after 2004 would be out of the regulation's purview.

Broadcasters, represented by advocate Fali S Nariman and C S Sundaram, said in SC that while Trai had put a cap on the tariff of channels while making bouquet system non-operational, it did nothing to protect broadcasters from irrational carrier and distribution charges. Nariman said while the tariff of channels had been frozen, cable operators' demand had been raised from Rs 9 crore to Rs 33 crore. While fixing April 30 for the interim arrangement as well as arguments on the distribution charges, the CJI said, "Mobile and cable operators are looting people."