The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released recommendations on ‘KYC of DTH Set Top Boxes,’ stating that operators should ensure the identity of customers and install the DTH connection at the address mentioned in the Customer Application Form (CAF) only.
The recommendations also state that the address of the installed set top box must be verified by the representative of the DTH operator and maintain records of these installations.
In cases where a registered mobile number is not provided by the subscriber or corporate body, TRAI recommends that the DTH operator collect Proof of Identity or any other similar document which can establish the identity of the user either in physical or electronic form before providing them with a DTH connection.
“There is no need to mandate physical verification at regular intervals as it will incur huge cost burden to the DTH operators and inconvenience to the consumers,” TRAI said.
For existing set top boxes, which are not attached to any mobile number of the subscribers, TRAI says that efforts should be made by the DTH operator to ask customers to link their set top boxes with a mobile number within a period of two years.
However, the recommendations state that there is no mandate for DTH operators to incorporate Location Based Services (LBS) in DTH set top boxes.
The recommendations on this was first sought by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) in December 2018.
Following this, TRAI issued a consultation paper on the same on July 19, 2019 to seek inputs from industry stakeholders. After comments and counter comments were received from industry stakeholders, an open house discussion was held on September 26, 2019, in Delhi to seek further views of the stakeholders on various issues.
Based on these discussions and its own analysis, TRAI has now finalized these recommendations.