Category: Regulators

India has just reached 886 TV channels against the target of 1500 channels by end of 12th Plan

NEW DELHI: With the government having given valid permission to a total of 886 private television channels including 399 news channels, it appears highly unlikely that the country will achieve the target of 1500 channels by March next year as assumed by the State Finance Commission while drafting its proposals for the 12th Plan (2012-17).

Interestingly, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry had given permission to 1035 channels but later cancelled permission to 149, thus adding twentythree more refused permission after 31 March this year.

Thus the number of general entertainment channels is 487 as on 31 July 2016.

Twenty-two channels including seven news channels have been permitted to uplink from India but not downlink within the country, thus leadiong to an increase of two general entertainment channels since 31 March 2016.

A total of 768 channels including 391 GECs are allowed to uplink and downlink in the country thus showing a reduction of one newx channel in the past four months.

A total of 96 including 81 GECs are uplinked from overseas but allowed to downlink into TV homes in the country, and there had been no change in this number for the past four months.

Interestingly, seven channels have lost their licences after 20 July 2016, when a list posted on the Ministry’s website in response to a Paliament question after the controversy over Peace TV and other illegal channels showed a total of 893 permitted channels.

After 30 April 2016, the lone news channel cleared is ATE TV of Airtravel Enterprises India
Limited;

The Non-News channels cleared are B4U Plus and B4U HITZ of B4U Television Network I
Pvt. Ltd; MAAS TV of Gokann International Media Pvt. Ltd; Nambikkai Television in Tamil and Goodnews TV of Goodnews Channel Pvt. Ltd; and MK Tunes amd MK Six of Madurai Krishan Network Pvt. Ltd.

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry site (mib.nic.in) also contains the full details of the owners of these channels, the languages in which they will beam, and the date on which the clearance came.

However, there are no details of the 149 channels denied permission.

August 9, 2016
Spectrum auctions next month, DoT issues notice and sets quantity on offer

NEW DELHI: The Government has decided to allot the right to use certain spectrum for 20 years through Spectrum Auction to be conducted next month.

The Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) for Auction of Spectrum has already been uploaded by Department of Telecom on its website www.dot.gov.in today.

The Government believes that this will provide a great opportunity to the existing service providers as well as new entrants. The existing service provider may acquire additional spectrum so as to match international level of spectrum holding.

A single auction will be conducted in Simultaneous Multiple-Round Ascending (SMRA) format for seven bands: 700MHz, 800MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz, 2300MHz and 2500MHz bands together.

1 Spectrum put on offer is as follows;

2 The total quantity of spectrum put to auction is 2354.55 MHz. This includes 197 MHz of additional spectrum in 1800 MHz band and 37.5 MHz in 800 MHz band released due to harmonization of spectrum in these bands.
3 Rates of SUC for the access spectrum held or/and to be acquired through the forthcoming auction by various access service providers in 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz & 2500 MHz bands shall be as follows:-

(i) Spectrum acquired in forthcoming auction in 700, 800, 900, 1800, 2100, 2300 & 2500 MHz band is to be charged at the rate of 3% of AGR excluding the revenue from wire line services.

(ii) The weighted average of SUC rates across all spectrum assigned to an operator (whether assigned administratively or through auction or through trading) in all access spectrum bands including BWA spectrum obtained in 2010 auction shall be applied for charging SUC subject to a minimum of 3% of AGR excluding revenues from wireline services. The weighted average is to be derived by sum of product of spectrum holdings and applicable SUC rate divided by total spectrum holding. The Weighted Average Rate should be determined operatorwise for each service area.

(iii) The amount of SUC payable by the operators during 2015-16 at weighted average derived after taking into consideration the spectrum acquired in the coming auction and excluding the spectrum in 2300 MHz/2500 MHz band acquired/allocated prior to 2015-16, be treated as the floor amount of the SUC to be paid by the operators. Further, in case there is a reduction in AGR of the service provider, the floor amount of SUC shall be reduced proportionately.

4 The option of making payment either full upfront or through deferred payment option has been retained.

5 In case of deferred payment option, the quantum of upfront payment in case of over 1GHz band i.e. 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz & 2500 MHz has been slightly modified w.r.t. 2015 auction from 33% (NIA 2015) to 50% of the bid amount. However, in case of below 1 GHz band i.e. 700 MHz, 800 MHz & 900 MHz there is no change w.r.t 2015 auction and has been kept same as 25% of bid amount.
6 The spectrum will be assigned to the successful bidder within 30 calendar days from the date of receipt of due payment under both options.

7 For the successful bidder, the Lock-in period of equity in the company has been reduced to one year instead of earlier stipulation of minimum period of 3 years or completion of roll out obligation, whichever is later.

8 There is no change in the eligibility condition. All existing Access Service providers and the entity that are eligible to acquire Access Service authorisation are eligible to participate in this auction.

9 In case of deferred payment option the same methodology of making part payment as upfront and balance payment in 10 yearly instalments after 2 year of moratorium is retained

10 The interest rate for the deferred payment option has been prescribed at the prevailing SBI base rate of 9.3% (it was 10% in 2015 auction).

11 The method of calculation of spectrum cap w.r.t. previous auction has been modified. The spectrum surrendered has also been included in the calculation of spectrum cap apart from the spectrum put to auction and assigned spectrum. The spectrum cap shall not be reduced in case spectrum is allocated for non-commercial use after auction.

12 The department recognise that in case of mobile system, coverage is to be complemented by capacity augmentation. There are many other steps that had been taken for ease of doing business and speedy roll-out of the network. Such as;

(i) Submission of self-certification of completion of roll-out obligation to the tune of 90%.

(ii) The roll-out obligation has been further eased out. Now the roll-out obligation shall be treated as fulfilled once the required numbers of district headquarters or block headquarters are covered by use of any technology in any band.

(iii) The frequency allocation process has been further streamlined so as to facilitate bidder to have maximum quantity of contiguous spectrum provided it does not disturb the block of 5 MHZ for other bidders.

13 The various stakeholders have been consulted and after publication of this NIA, a pre-bid conference is also planned to be organised by 13th August, 2016 to have further interaction with the stakeholders and answer their queries. Further bidder has the opportunity to submit its queries by 19th August, 2016 and the department will issue clarification by 29 August 2016.

August 9, 2016
Spectrum auctions next month, DoT issues notice and sets quantity on offer

NEW DELHI: The Government has decided to allot the right to use certain spectrum for 20 years through Spectrum Auction to be conducted next month.

The Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) for Auction of Spectrum has already been uploaded by Department of Telecom on its website www.dot.gov.in today.

The Government believes that this will provide a great opportunity to the existing service providers as well as new entrants. The existing service provider may acquire additional spectrum so as to match international level of spectrum holding.

A single auction will be conducted in Simultaneous Multiple-Round Ascending (SMRA) format for seven bands: 700MHz, 800MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz, 2300MHz and 2500MHz bands together.

1 Spectrum put on offer is as follows;

2 The total quantity of spectrum put to auction is 2354.55 MHz. This includes 197 MHz of additional spectrum in 1800 MHz band and 37.5 MHz in 800 MHz band released due to harmonization of spectrum in these bands.
3 Rates of SUC for the access spectrum held or/and to be acquired through the forthcoming auction by various access service providers in 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz & 2500 MHz bands shall be as follows:-

(i) Spectrum acquired in forthcoming auction in 700, 800, 900, 1800, 2100, 2300 & 2500 MHz band is to be charged at the rate of 3% of AGR excluding the revenue from wire line services.

(ii) The weighted average of SUC rates across all spectrum assigned to an operator (whether assigned administratively or through auction or through trading) in all access spectrum bands including BWA spectrum obtained in 2010 auction shall be applied for charging SUC subject to a minimum of 3% of AGR excluding revenues from wireline services. The weighted average is to be derived by sum of product of spectrum holdings and applicable SUC rate divided by total spectrum holding. The Weighted Average Rate should be determined operatorwise for each service area.

(iii) The amount of SUC payable by the operators during 2015-16 at weighted average derived after taking into consideration the spectrum acquired in the coming auction and excluding the spectrum in 2300 MHz/2500 MHz band acquired/allocated prior to 2015-16, be treated as the floor amount of the SUC to be paid by the operators. Further, in case there is a reduction in AGR of the service provider, the floor amount of SUC shall be reduced proportionately.

4 The option of making payment either full upfront or through deferred payment option has been retained.

5 In case of deferred payment option, the quantum of upfront payment in case of over 1GHz band i.e. 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz & 2500 MHz has been slightly modified w.r.t. 2015 auction from 33% (NIA 2015) to 50% of the bid amount. However, in case of below 1 GHz band i.e. 700 MHz, 800 MHz & 900 MHz there is no change w.r.t 2015 auction and has been kept same as 25% of bid amount.
6 The spectrum will be assigned to the successful bidder within 30 calendar days from the date of receipt of due payment under both options.

7 For the successful bidder, the Lock-in period of equity in the company has been reduced to one year instead of earlier stipulation of minimum period of 3 years or completion of roll out obligation, whichever is later.

8 There is no change in the eligibility condition. All existing Access Service providers and the entity that are eligible to acquire Access Service authorisation are eligible to participate in this auction.

9 In case of deferred payment option the same methodology of making part payment as upfront and balance payment in 10 yearly instalments after 2 year of moratorium is retained

10 The interest rate for the deferred payment option has been prescribed at the prevailing SBI base rate of 9.3% (it was 10% in 2015 auction).

11 The method of calculation of spectrum cap w.r.t. previous auction has been modified. The spectrum surrendered has also been included in the calculation of spectrum cap apart from the spectrum put to auction and assigned spectrum. The spectrum cap shall not be reduced in case spectrum is allocated for non-commercial use after auction.

12 The department recognise that in case of mobile system, coverage is to be complemented by capacity augmentation. There are many other steps that had been taken for ease of doing business and speedy roll-out of the network. Such as;

(i) Submission of self-certification of completion of roll-out obligation to the tune of 90%.

(ii) The roll-out obligation has been further eased out. Now the roll-out obligation shall be treated as fulfilled once the required numbers of district headquarters or block headquarters are covered by use of any technology in any band.

(iii) The frequency allocation process has been further streamlined so as to facilitate bidder to have maximum quantity of contiguous spectrum provided it does not disturb the block of 5 MHZ for other bidders.

13 The various stakeholders have been consulted and after publication of this NIA, a pre-bid conference is also planned to be organised by 13th August, 2016 to have further interaction with the stakeholders and answer their queries. Further bidder has the opportunity to submit its queries by 19th August, 2016 and the department will issue clarification by 29 August 2016.

August 9, 2016
What really happened at the 16th DAS Task Force meeting

NEW DELHI: Even as the government has once again reiterated that it is firm on Phase IV of digital addressable systems for cable television to commence on 31 December this year, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry (MIB) has for the first time admitted that the Law Ministry had observed that the order passed by the Andhra Pradesh High Court staying Phase III “appears to have all lndia applicability”.

(The Ministry had sought this opinion in view of the Mumbai high court making a reference to the Kusum Ingots case which had said that if one high court gives an order, others can give similar orders if similar circumstances exist. indiantelevision.com had reported in January this year that the MIB had told the Punjab and Haryana high court that it had ‘decided not to press the requirement of having a STB as for now till the decision of the cases which are pending before various other high courts’).

The MIB affirmed this at the 16th DAS IV Task Force meeting held on 26 July in Delhi. MIB secretary Ajay Mittal who presided over the meeting said digitisation is a process which cannot be stopped. He said that Ministry has been proactive in the matter of dealing with all the court cases filed by some MSOs for extension of cut-off date for phase lll. He suggested that the stakeholders should supplement the efforts made by Ministry to dispose off these cases.

He cautioned that MSOs and LCOs should desist from transmitting or re-transmitting un-authorized TV channels which are not permitted by the Ministry. He informed that Ministry has written to all the district collectors/magistrates in this regard to take action under the law against those who are violating the law.

Advisor DAS Yogendra Pal told the Task Force Meeting for DAS that there were no cases in twenty states but the MIB was not in a position to issue orders in view of the advice given by the law ministry.

However, he said following the decision to transfer all DAS cases to the Delhi high court following a petition in the Supreme Court by the MIB, 29 cases have so far been transferred by various courts to Delhi and 18 cases are still left to be transferred.

He said 62 cases had been filed by some multi-system operators (MSOs) in various courts in the country for extension in the deadline of Phase lll. Out of these 62 cases, 12 cases had been disposed off by respective courts and 3 cases had been withdrawn by the petitioners. Two months extension in the deadline was granted by the Andhra Pradesh high court. Both Mumbai high court and the Aurangabad Branch of that court had passed orders to the effect that the order passed by the Telengana bench of the high court of Andhra Pradesh had all India applicability in view of the Supreme Court judgment in Kusum Ingots case.

Two cases are scheduled for hearing by the Delhi High Court on 13 September 2016. He added that the MIB as approached the Solicitor General to defend the cases and for an early hearing of the cases in Delhi high court. He added that a special leave petition (SLP) is also being drafted against the order of Aurangabad Branch of Mumbai high court.

The Ministry had recently conducted one workshop with state level nodal officers in Delhi and three regional workshops with state and district level Nodal Officers at Dehradun, Shimla and lmphal.

The Joint Secretary said that there were a reported 6000 MSOs in the country but only 965 MSO had got registrations so far and about 200 applications are under process in the Ministry.

She requested the Indian Broadcasting Foundation, the News Broadcasters Association, and the ARTBI to tell their member broadcasters to check with all MSOs with whom they have interconnect agreements whether they were registered and if they have not applied for it so far, advise them to do so immediately. She said that broadcasters should be having the details of all MSOs operating in phase lV areas in their data base which can be crosschecked with the list of registered MSOs on MIB website to identify the MSOs who have not applied for registration so far. She asked the representatives of broadcasters to send a list of these MSOs operating in phase lV areas but who have not applied for MSO registration to Ministry by 7 August 2016. She added that as a next step the broadcasters should communicate with these MSOs and ask them to apply for MSO registration if they want to continue to operate as MSOs in DAS notified areas.

A representative of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India emphasized that broadcasters should start entering into interconnect agreements with MSOs and likewise MSOs should enter into interconnect agreements with LCOs for phase lV areas. He said that broadcasters should collect STB requirements from local cable operators in phase lV areas.

The representative of IMCL said broadcasters have offered separate digital and analogue rates in phase lV market and suggested that TRAI may issue an advisory/directive that there should be only analogue rate till 31 December 2016.

TRAI said no such advisory which is outside the regulations can be issued. He said put of 900 TV channels, about 600 channels are free to air (FTA) channels and operate through about 2000 LCOs from their head ends. He suggested that in their case the State Governments can asks these LCOs to apply for MSO registration.

Joint secretary Jaya said MSOs had sought an extension from the courts on the plea that broadcasters had not signed interconnect agreement with them. She said agreements between broadcasters important for further signing of agreements between MSOs and LCOs. She said that broadcasters, MSOs and LCOs should prioritize this issue everywhere and make concerted efforts to seal the agreements for phase lV areas by August 2016.

TRAI said all MSOs who have any issue with broadcasters with regard to signing of interconnect agreements should write to the TRAI. He added that TRAI would review the situation in this regard from time to time.

A representative of a cable operator association from Maharashtra (MocF) mentioned that about 200 LCos have signed interconnect agreements with Hathway in Maharashtra. He suggested that other large MSOs like IMCL & Siticable may also enter into agreements with LCos there on the basis of model inter-connect agreement.

He complained that the post offices in Maharashtra were asking for no objection certificates from the offices of the district magistrate for renewal of registration to LCOs. He was told that with regard to this issue, which was raised in the last meeting also, proper reference with details should be sent to MIB He also wanted to know whether an MSO registered with MIB and operating as an LCO also is required to obtain the LCO registration from local the post office.

A representative of CEAMA mentioned that orders for STBs had peaked in October 2015. Thereafter, except for supply orders from DTH operators and some small MSOs, no major orders have been received by them. He suggested that the MSOs planning for procurement for phase lV should place the orders now for timely delivery of STBs. He re-confirmed that they have the capacity to meet the complete requirements of phase lV.

Representatives of state nodal officers from the Himachal Pradesh, Telengana, UP, Uttarakhand, MP, Karnataka, Bihar and J & K briefed about the various measures undertaken by them to implement the last phase of digitisation in their states. Most of them confirmed that monitoring committees have been set up and they are holding regular meetings to monitor the progress.

August 9, 2016
What really happened at the 16th DAS Task Force meeting

NEW DELHI: Even as the government has once again reiterated that it is firm on Phase IV of digital addressable systems for cable television to commence on 31 December this year, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry (MIB) has for the first time admitted that the Law Ministry had observed that the order passed by the Andhra Pradesh High Court staying Phase III “appears to have all lndia applicability”.

(The Ministry had sought this opinion in view of the Mumbai high court making a reference to the Kusum Ingots case which had said that if one high court gives an order, others can give similar orders if similar circumstances exist. indiantelevision.com had reported in January this year that the MIB had told the Punjab and Haryana high court that it had ‘decided not to press the requirement of having a STB as for now till the decision of the cases which are pending before various other high courts’).

The MIB affirmed this at the 16th DAS IV Task Force meeting held on 26 July in Delhi. MIB secretary Ajay Mittal who presided over the meeting said digitisation is a process which cannot be stopped. He said that Ministry has been proactive in the matter of dealing with all the court cases filed by some MSOs for extension of cut-off date for phase lll. He suggested that the stakeholders should supplement the efforts made by Ministry to dispose off these cases.

He cautioned that MSOs and LCOs should desist from transmitting or re-transmitting un-authorized TV channels which are not permitted by the Ministry. He informed that Ministry has written to all the district collectors/magistrates in this regard to take action under the law against those who are violating the law.

Advisor DAS Yogendra Pal told the Task Force Meeting for DAS that there were no cases in twenty states but the MIB was not in a position to issue orders in view of the advice given by the law ministry.

However, he said following the decision to transfer all DAS cases to the Delhi high court following a petition in the Supreme Court by the MIB, 29 cases have so far been transferred by various courts to Delhi and 18 cases are still left to be transferred.

He said 62 cases had been filed by some multi-system operators (MSOs) in various courts in the country for extension in the deadline of Phase lll. Out of these 62 cases, 12 cases had been disposed off by respective courts and 3 cases had been withdrawn by the petitioners. Two months extension in the deadline was granted by the Andhra Pradesh high court. Both Mumbai high court and the Aurangabad Branch of that court had passed orders to the effect that the order passed by the Telengana bench of the high court of Andhra Pradesh had all India applicability in view of the Supreme Court judgment in Kusum Ingots case.

Two cases are scheduled for hearing by the Delhi High Court on 13 September 2016. He added that the MIB as approached the Solicitor General to defend the cases and for an early hearing of the cases in Delhi high court. He added that a special leave petition (SLP) is also being drafted against the order of Aurangabad Branch of Mumbai high court.

The Ministry had recently conducted one workshop with state level nodal officers in Delhi and three regional workshops with state and district level Nodal Officers at Dehradun, Shimla and lmphal.

The Joint Secretary said that there were a reported 6000 MSOs in the country but only 965 MSO had got registrations so far and about 200 applications are under process in the Ministry.

She requested the Indian Broadcasting Foundation, the News Broadcasters Association, and the ARTBI to tell their member broadcasters to check with all MSOs with whom they have interconnect agreements whether they were registered and if they have not applied for it so far, advise them to do so immediately. She said that broadcasters should be having the details of all MSOs operating in phase lV areas in their data base which can be crosschecked with the list of registered MSOs on MIB website to identify the MSOs who have not applied for registration so far. She asked the representatives of broadcasters to send a list of these MSOs operating in phase lV areas but who have not applied for MSO registration to Ministry by 7 August 2016. She added that as a next step the broadcasters should communicate with these MSOs and ask them to apply for MSO registration if they want to continue to operate as MSOs in DAS notified areas.

A representative of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India emphasized that broadcasters should start entering into interconnect agreements with MSOs and likewise MSOs should enter into interconnect agreements with LCOs for phase lV areas. He said that broadcasters should collect STB requirements from local cable operators in phase lV areas.

The representative of IMCL said broadcasters have offered separate digital and analogue rates in phase lV market and suggested that TRAI may issue an advisory/directive that there should be only analogue rate till 31 December 2016.

TRAI said no such advisory which is outside the regulations can be issued. He said put of 900 TV channels, about 600 channels are free to air (FTA) channels and operate through about 2000 LCOs from their head ends. He suggested that in their case the State Governments can asks these LCOs to apply for MSO registration.

Joint secretary Jaya said MSOs had sought an extension from the courts on the plea that broadcasters had not signed interconnect agreement with them. She said agreements between broadcasters important for further signing of agreements between MSOs and LCOs. She said that broadcasters, MSOs and LCOs should prioritize this issue everywhere and make concerted efforts to seal the agreements for phase lV areas by August 2016.

TRAI said all MSOs who have any issue with broadcasters with regard to signing of interconnect agreements should write to the TRAI. He added that TRAI would review the situation in this regard from time to time.

A representative of a cable operator association from Maharashtra (MocF) mentioned that about 200 LCos have signed interconnect agreements with Hathway in Maharashtra. He suggested that other large MSOs like IMCL & Siticable may also enter into agreements with LCos there on the basis of model inter-connect agreement.

He complained that the post offices in Maharashtra were asking for no objection certificates from the offices of the district magistrate for renewal of registration to LCOs. He was told that with regard to this issue, which was raised in the last meeting also, proper reference with details should be sent to MIB He also wanted to know whether an MSO registered with MIB and operating as an LCO also is required to obtain the LCO registration from local the post office.

A representative of CEAMA mentioned that orders for STBs had peaked in October 2015. Thereafter, except for supply orders from DTH operators and some small MSOs, no major orders have been received by them. He suggested that the MSOs planning for procurement for phase lV should place the orders now for timely delivery of STBs. He re-confirmed that they have the capacity to meet the complete requirements of phase lV.

Representatives of state nodal officers from the Himachal Pradesh, Telengana, UP, Uttarakhand, MP, Karnataka, Bihar and J & K briefed about the various measures undertaken by them to implement the last phase of digitisation in their states. Most of them confirmed that monitoring committees have been set up and they are holding regular meetings to monitor the progress.

August 9, 2016
GST Constitutional Amendment Bill gets Lok Sabha nod after amendments

NEW DELHI: The long-awaited Goods and Services Tax Bill (GST), which has been riddled by several controversies which began in the time of the UPA government, has finally been passed with amendments worked out to pacify a vociferous opposition which held the majority in the Rajya Sabha.

Although the Bill had been passed earlier in the Lok Sabha, an adamant Congress insisted on some changes which were worked out after talking to all states and the opposition parties.

Thereafter, the amended bill had been introduced in the Rajya Sabha and passed last week. However, in view of the amendments, the amended Bill had to go through the entire rigmarole of a discussion in the Lok Sabha before it was passed unanimously.

As the GST Bill is in the form of a Constitution Amendment, the rules required that it had to be passed by two-thirds of the members present and voting.

The Amendment Bill will now go for Presidential assent to Pranab Mukherjee, but can become law only after it is ratified by at least fifteen state governments. The government hopes to get the approval within 30 days as it has set a deadline of 1 April 2017 for implementation of GST. Several states will have to call for special sessions to clear GST in the next 30 days.

The Bill, which Finance Minister Arun Jaitley describes as a “one nation one tax” bill, was described by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a major step “that will deliver us from tax terrorism.” He said “GST means a Great Step Taken by India, a Great Step of Transformation, Great Step towards Transparency.”

Jaitley said India’s biggest tax reform will see the centre and states “pooling their sovereignty to reap the many benefits that will ultimately lead to India’s progress”. He claimed that “Tax evasion will lessen, there will be no tax on tax or a cascade of taxes and ease of doing business will improve.”

The Rajya Sabha, where the government is in a minority, had passed the bill unanimously last week, with 203 members supporting and none against.

Interestingly, the Congress reminded the government today that it had got the Bill passed in the Lok Sabha last year by the sheer dint of its numerical strength and not consensus.

A GST council will be formed after that with states and the centre as members. This council will recommend rates and other modalities for GST, which will replace a raft of different state and local taxes with a single unified value added tax system turning India into world’s biggest single market.

Parliament will need to clear two more GST-related bills and each state will have to pass its own law. The government will push to get this done in the winter session of Parliament to meet the deadline.

FICCI President Harvardhan Neotia said: “The approval of the Constitutional Amendment Bill marks crossing of another milestone in the journey towards introduction of a Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime in the country. The industry eagerly looks forward to the implementation of this uniform and simplified tax regime. It is expected that GST will lead to easy tax compliance and improve India’s competitiveness in the global arena. Implementation of GST will be a big incentive for bringing new investments into India and eventually will foster the growth of the Indian economy. FICCI would be privileged to work with and support the Central and State Governments in enabling a timely and hassle-free roll out of GST in India”

August 8, 2016
GST Constitutional Amendment Bill gets Lok Sabha nod after amendments

NEW DELHI: The long-awaited Goods and Services Tax Bill (GST), which has been riddled by several controversies which began in the time of the UPA government, has finally been passed with amendments worked out to pacify a vociferous opposition which held the majority in the Rajya Sabha.

Although the Bill had been passed earlier in the Lok Sabha, an adamant Congress insisted on some changes which were worked out after talking to all states and the opposition parties.

Thereafter, the amended bill had been introduced in the Rajya Sabha and passed last week. However, in view of the amendments, the amended Bill had to go through the entire rigmarole of a discussion in the Lok Sabha before it was passed unanimously.

As the GST Bill is in the form of a Constitution Amendment, the rules required that it had to be passed by two-thirds of the members present and voting.

The Amendment Bill will now go for Presidential assent to Pranab Mukherjee, but can become law only after it is ratified by at least fifteen state governments. The government hopes to get the approval within 30 days as it has set a deadline of 1 April 2017 for implementation of GST. Several states will have to call for special sessions to clear GST in the next 30 days.

The Bill, which Finance Minister Arun Jaitley describes as a “one nation one tax” bill, was described by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a major step “that will deliver us from tax terrorism.” He said “GST means a Great Step Taken by India, a Great Step of Transformation, Great Step towards Transparency.”

Jaitley said India’s biggest tax reform will see the centre and states “pooling their sovereignty to reap the many benefits that will ultimately lead to India’s progress”. He claimed that “Tax evasion will lessen, there will be no tax on tax or a cascade of taxes and ease of doing business will improve.”

The Rajya Sabha, where the government is in a minority, had passed the bill unanimously last week, with 203 members supporting and none against.

Interestingly, the Congress reminded the government today that it had got the Bill passed in the Lok Sabha last year by the sheer dint of its numerical strength and not consensus.

A GST council will be formed after that with states and the centre as members. This council will recommend rates and other modalities for GST, which will replace a raft of different state and local taxes with a single unified value added tax system turning India into world’s biggest single market.

Parliament will need to clear two more GST-related bills and each state will have to pass its own law. The government will push to get this done in the winter session of Parliament to meet the deadline.

FICCI President Harvardhan Neotia said: “The approval of the Constitutional Amendment Bill marks crossing of another milestone in the journey towards introduction of a Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime in the country. The industry eagerly looks forward to the implementation of this uniform and simplified tax regime. It is expected that GST will lead to easy tax compliance and improve India’s competitiveness in the global arena. Implementation of GST will be a big incentive for bringing new investments into India and eventually will foster the growth of the Indian economy. FICCI would be privileged to work with and support the Central and State Governments in enabling a timely and hassle-free roll out of GST in India”

August 8, 2016
TDSAT asks MSO to pay Rs 6 lakh and reconcile accounts with Indiacast UTV

NEW DELHI: Vishal Cable Network has been directed by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal to pay Rs six lakh in two installments to lndiacast UTV Media Distribution Pvt.Ltd by 5 August 2016.

In his order on 28 July 2016, member B B Srivastava had said the first installment of Rs three lakh would be paid immediately and the next Rs three lakh by % August 2016, by which date the two sides should meet and reconcile their accounts.

Indiacast Counsel Kunal Tandon told the Tribunal that the signals had been disconnected on 15 June 2016 and the arrears had mounted to Rs 9,12•,935.

Fixing the matter for 30 August 2016, the Tribunal said The respondent is also directed toundertake audit of the system of the petitioner and complete it by the next date fixed.

Earlier, Vishal Cable counsel Vikram Singh submiteds he did not appear on 3 Jue 2016 as no notice was given by the Registry due to inadvertence. As a result, the Tribunal had recalled theinterim protection granted to the petitioner by the order of 19 August last year.

August 8, 2016
TDSAT asks MSO to pay Rs 6 lakh and reconcile accounts with Indiacast UTV

NEW DELHI: Vishal Cable Network has been directed by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal to pay Rs six lakh in two installments to lndiacast UTV Media Distribution Pvt.Ltd by 5 August 2016.

In his order on 28 July 2016, member B B Srivastava had said the first installment of Rs three lakh would be paid immediately and the next Rs three lakh by % August 2016, by which date the two sides should meet and reconcile their accounts.

Indiacast Counsel Kunal Tandon told the Tribunal that the signals had been disconnected on 15 June 2016 and the arrears had mounted to Rs 9,12•,935.

Fixing the matter for 30 August 2016, the Tribunal said The respondent is also directed toundertake audit of the system of the petitioner and complete it by the next date fixed.

Earlier, Vishal Cable counsel Vikram Singh submiteds he did not appear on 3 Jue 2016 as no notice was given by the Registry due to inadvertence. As a result, the Tribunal had recalled theinterim protection granted to the petitioner by the order of 19 August last year.

August 8, 2016
17.8 million STBs deployed in Phase IV areas: MIB

MUMBAI: The ministry of information and broadcasting says that close to 17.8 million set top boxes have been seeded in Phase IV areas. The figure was 138 million set top boxes during the fifteenth task force meeting held in end May this year.

Speaking at the sixteenth task force meeting which was held on 26 July, the joint secretary R. Jaya stated that most of this is coming courtesy voluntarily digitization.

She also urged representatives of the MSOs to finalise their procurement plans of STBs, and cautioned that “they should not let some disinterested players in phase IV areas delay digitization in phase IV areas on the grounds of non-availability of STB as it was done in phase III.”

She added that except for some DTH operators the public awareness campaign for DAS Phase IV digitization has not come up to scratch. She urged the industry to develop its own creative and its own spots to spread the message of cable TV digitization in the phase IV regions.

This is of course apart from the spots that have been developed by the ministry and which were playing out on the public broadcaster Doordarshan’s channels.

August 8, 2016