The government has approved the prices of individual television channels and bouquets under an à la carte system.

Like selecting dishes from a menu in a restaurant, the à la carte system allows viewers to pick the channels they want to watch and pay for them. This contrasts with the current plan where viewers get a whole bunch of channels they never watch along with their favourites, and are charged for all.

According to a notice issued Friday by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, the price of the bouquet of Star entertainment pack has been fixed to Rs40 per month. There are nine channels under the Star Entertainment pack.

The price of the bouquet of Star movie packs is fixed at Rs40 per month. There are 13 channels under the Star Movie pack.

Similarly, the price of the Star Sports pack, which has six channels, has been fixed at Rs40 per month. The monthly price of the Star Premium Sports pack with four channels, has been fixed at Rs40.

Similarly, the bouquet of Sony's basic package costs Rs40 per month where viewers can watch eight channels.

Likewise, the Sony Sports premium bouquet where viewers can watch six channels, costs Rs40 per month.

The Colors Premium bouquet costs Rs25 per month and viewers can watch seven channels. The bouquet price of Colors Basic has been fixed at Rs25 under which there will be eight channels.

The first bouquet price of ZEE pack, under which viewers can watch 5 channels, has been fixed at Rs25 per month. The second bouquet price of ZEE pack costs Rs25 and five channels can be watched.

Similarly, the bouquet price of the Discovery pack, which has 10 channels, has been fixed at Rs20, while the Turner pack with four channels costs Rs20.

The bouquet price of HBO (Singapore) is fixed at Rs15 for five channels.

The price of CBeebies (a children’s channel) under BBC Studio Distribution is approved at a rate of Rs2 per month. The bouquet price of Times Now and Zoom broadcast under Bennet Coleman and Company has been fixed at Rs3 per month.

A total of 32 channels will be broadcast under Star India, 21 under Sony Pictures, 15 under Indiacast Media Distribution, 10 under ZEE Entertainment, 14 under Discovery Network Asia Pacific, 5 under HBO, 1 under BBC Studio Distribution and 2 under channels under Bennet Coleman and Company. The prices of individual channels broadcast under the above-mentioned groups have also been fixed accordingly.

On August 24, the Ministry of Communication issued a notice to broadcasters to formally implement the “pick-and-pay” option for Nepali television viewers. The government fixed the minimum monthly fee for cable television at Rs250 per month per customer as carrying cost.

According to the Communications Ministry, the à la carte model is being implemented for the first time in Nepal, and this will benefit customers as they pay for only the TV channels they subscribe to.

The model is in use in India, the United States and Canada.

Regular inspections would be carried out to make sure whether the operators are abiding by the new rule.

Currently, TV channels are being broadcast through direct-to-home, multiple-system operators, multichannel multipoint distribution services, internet protocol television, and digital terrestrial television, among others, in Nepal.

Nepali cable TV operators are currently charging their customers Rs400 to Rs500 per month.

According to the Federation of Nepal Cable Television Associations, there are a total of eight cable TV operators including internet TV providers in Nepal. There are around 110 Nepali channels and 98 foreign channels being broadcast in Nepal with around 1.5 million viewers who have renewed their subscriptions.

“The cable operators can customise the bouquet channels and submit them for approval,” said Netra Prasad Subedi, spokesman for the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology.

The prices were fixed according to international practice, the Indian channel market and customer preference, he said.

The cable TV operators should not charge more than the fixed rate, according to the ministry’s notice.

“We are negotiating with Indian TV channels to bring down the prices of the packages under Rs65 for each group of channels like Star India, ZEE or Sony among others,” said Sudhir Parajuli, president of the Federation of Nepal Cable Television Associations.

It costs Rs160 to watch all the channels under Star India, but the package of Star India needs to come under Rs65 and it will be the same for other Indian TV channels as per the price set by the government, Parajuli said.

The packages provided by the Indian TV channels will be sold to customers accordingly, he said.