Exposing DTH scam: TATA Play DTH robbing their customers secretly to milk money

nRiTeCh

nRiTeCh

Oracle
So today I discovered how TATA Play cheats or robs its customer by billing incorrectly!
I think this was happening since some time but I discovered it only today.

Yesterday was the last day of my subscription and I went to recharge the same from Tata's official website. I noticed that the monthly amount got hiked considerably so I started investigating only to found that the real price of my monthly subscribed pack is s. 451.60/month while Tata is billing aka overcharging meRs. ₹481.60/month, a Rs. 30/month loot!
This raised alarms and I instantly called their CC and even the CC guy went haywire. "He too was taken aback, said thats pretty unusual as there's no manual intervention into billing. He carefully took his sweet time to investigate at his ends and found no extra channel/pack added for that Rs. 30 unusual hike. He immediately raised a ticket for the same.

Last year on 13th July 2024 I recharged TATA PLAY DTH for 6 months amounting to Rs. 3765.36 and the plan validity was till 23rd Jan 2025 but the plan expired prematurely in advance itself on 9th Jun 2025. This made me suspicious and hence the investigation and these shcoking outcomes!

Its a shock for me a sheer shame on such big brands following such practices. I cant image to how many customer out there they might be looting and earning a grand amount.

What saves me every time are the countless screenshots I take and sort them to save on such days!

===================================Screenshots/evidences==================================================================================

Actual pack price

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What Tata is charging me..

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Lastly, its not about Re.1 or Rs 100 but imagine how much these cos. are secretly milking money by robbing their dear innocent customer!

I would urge every DTH users (Jio/Sun/Airtel) esp. Tata customers to start monitoring their subscription pricing. The only way to counter such practices is to keep recharging monthly as we get to keep a proper track of validity/expiry etc. as its way too much easier to cheat anyone on a longer recharge period like how they loot to postpaid customers!
 
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In the 451.60 pack screenshot you shared, it is clearly mentioned that "Network Capacity Fee extra as applicable". So the Rs 30 extra charged is Network Capacity Fee on the 451.60 pack making effective billing 481.60.
 
I stopped using my Tatasky HDR recorder years back when I saw tata keep increasing prices and decreasing video quality. Tata is name only and shit quality service now. just stay away from tata brand, not worth the premium they charge for everything.
rajanmehta said:
In the 451.60 pack screenshot you shared, it is clearly mentioned that "Network Capacity Fee extra as applicable". So the Rs 30 extra charged is Network Capacity Fee on the 451.60 pack making effective billing 481.60.
Click to expand...
Network capacity fee is clearly mentioned as 153.40/month. Then instead of 30 they should add 153.40. Where did the 30 come from? :rolleyes:
Screenshot.jpeg
 
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Refer screenshot by OP. Rs 153.40 NCF (Rs 130+Taxes) is already charged in the pack which is upto 200 Channel count. As the op pack has more than 200 channels, NCF will be Rs 160, So Rs 30 extra is charged.

But in the new tariff order, TRAI has removed the ceiling on Network Capacity Fee :mad: which was maximum Rs 160 for more than 200 channels. Now it is open for DTH/Cable operators to charge any amount as NCF.
 
6pack said:
Channel count shows 142 Sd and 0 HD. How is it more than 200? Are you adding free and complimentary channels too?
Click to expand...
The free and complimentary channels in the screenshot are over the 142 in the pack, so that would be the reason for the count crossing 200.
 
t3chg33k said:
The free and complimentary channels in the screenshot are over the 142 in the pack, so that would be the reason for the count crossing 200.
Click to expand...
If it's free and complimentary, why are they charging extra money for something they are forcing on users?

That page design is very misleading imo. Anyone will think they have to pay only 481.60/month. No one is going to dissect the page bit by bit to find out where the extra charges are coming from.
 
6pack said:
If it's free and complimentary, why are they charging extra money for something they are forcing on users?

That page design is very misleading imo. Anyone will think they have to pay only 481.60/month. No one is going to dissect the page bit by bit to find out where the extra charges are coming from.
Click to expand...
That is indeed the intended design. Simply moved off DTH about 4 years ago because of all the tactics they pull off. The last straw for me was when they introduced the Android STB and I found it is one running on ARM7 SOC from 2 decades ago and kept dropping frames even at 1080p. I had to escalate a lot but eventually managed to return the box, get a full refund and never looked back.
 
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OT but to everyone subscribing to any sort of DTH connection, just do what i do, setup jiotv_go directly on your smart tv or homelab. as long as you have a jio number (most of us do) you can watch all live tv channels you want for FREE!!!
All you have to do is keep the jio number active and that doesn't cost that much.

This is currently setup in my homelab, and using a live tv app on my smart tv to play these contents.
1736495059806.png
 
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Thanks for letting us know. Just few days ago I moved to tata after using airtel for over a decade. Airtel's remote was breaking down too often, there was also a significant delay between remote and stb response. So thought of giving Tata a try.

But the thing I immediately noticed is the absolutely comical picture quality. It can't even be compared to airtel's. It's so pathetic that I can't recall whether I've seen such poor picture quality since taking cable connection back in the mid 90s. Nobody in Amazon mentioned of this rather they said it's good!

And now you mention of this. Wow. Will be keeping an eye on the balance. If my parent didn't bother with TV I myself would never even spend 280 p.m. behind utter garbage contents that show on tv nowadays.
 
rajanmehta said:
As the op pack has more than 200 channels, NCF will be Rs 160, So Rs 30 extra is charged.
Click to expand...
Where are you seeing 200+ channels?
As mentioned in op, even the customer care guys are stunned at sch charges as I have not opted for any alacarte channel/s or pack additional to my base pack.
If anything at all I would have been awared on that part and so the CC guys.
6pack said:
Channel count shows 142 Sd and 0 HD. How is it more than 200? Are you adding free and complimentary channels too?
Click to expand...
Again, where did you find the 200 channel count?
t3chg33k said:
That is indeed the intended design. Simply moved off DTH about 4 years ago because of all the tactics they pull off. The last straw for me was when they introduced the Android STB and I found it is one running on ARM7 SOC from 2 decades ago and kept dropping frames even at 1080p. I had to escalate a lot but eventually managed to return the box, get a full refund and never looked back.
Click to expand...
I have no option but to stick to DTH for not to tech savvy people in my house who like the old style of turning on the tv and browsing on the remote- simplicity!
And hence SD only pack else there are hardly people today using SD as everyone got 4ks and HD is the way.
sauravghosh said:
Thanks for letting us know. Just few days ago I moved to tata after using airtel for over a decade.

And now you mention of this. Wow. Will be keeping an eye on the balance. If my parent didn't bother with TV I myself would never even spend 280 p.m. behind utter garbage contents that show on tv nowadays.
Click to expand...
Yes, it always better to keep an eye be it basic phone recharge, dth, or your credit cards etc. A detailed surprise analysis and this is what you find!
 
nRiTeCh said:
Again, where did you find the 200 channel count?
Click to expand...
I'm agreeing with you, I couldn't find 200 channels. I thought only 142 channels are present in that pack. Can you post a list of all the channels in that pack including free and complimentary channels?
 
I had my family moved off DTH years ago when those a***oles simply would not stick to the required package. We were on the cheapest plan with a region specific top-up and they kept on adding/changing channels without informing. We were on Tata (may he rest in peace), then Dish TV and finally Siticable. All were the same. They would add some or the other promotional pack or just remove one without consent and charge extra. I got them off and onto a Firestick with the required subscriptions. It was some effort initially but now they are pretty happy. I just help them renew the subscription from time to time.
Good riddance; I am surprised that DTH is still not dead with those practices.
 
Hi
I also use tata sky.
Noticed a hike of 50 rupees in the bill, while recharging. Thought my brother would have subscribed to any new channels.
But came to know that he didn't. Need to investigate.
 
ibose said:
I had my family moved off DTH years ago when those a***oles simply would not stick to the required package. We were on the cheapest plan with a region specific top-up and they kept on adding/changing channels without informing. We were on Tata (may he rest in peace), then Dish TV and finally Siticable. All were the same. They would add some or the other promotional pack or just remove one without consent and charge extra. I got them off and onto a Firestick with the required subscriptions. It was some effort initially but now they are pretty happy. I just help them renew the subscription from time to time.
Good riddance; I am surprised that DTH is still not dead with those practices.
Click to expand...
They are increasing the price again significantly this year, the broadcasters and thus the DTH providers. The head of one of these groups admitted that DTH will eventually die as subscriber count falls further and that they need to get as much revenue as they can from existing subscribers who are unable to switch to OTT.
 
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