Category: Regulators

TRAI urged to ensure signals to LCOs not disrupted following withdraw its hike-linked tariffs

NEW DELHI: Following the decision of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India to withdraw its hike-based tariff orders of 27.5 per cent, the reguator has been urged to issue orders asking multisystem operators not to disconnect the signals received by last mile networks (LCO) during this crucial period of observing the tariff and arrears adjustment period (TAAP).

The regulator has also been urged to ask MSOs to to make any package alterations, activations or deactivations in set top boxes for the smooth adjustment of the increase / hike made payable by LCOs from 1 April 2014 till 30 June 2016.

In a detailed letter to TAI Chairman R S Sharma, both National Cable and Telecommunication Association and Cable Operators Federation of India has said that a similar direction may be given to the Pay TV Broadcasters and they be directed to bring back the tariff as existing on 31 March 2014.

In the pre-paid MSO business model, adequate credit should be maintained by the MSO in the system during this period of our observing TAAP, for the adjustment of the increase / hike made payable by us from 1 April 2014 till 30 June 2016.

The two organizations have also said that in case of any discrepancy or for reconciliation of accounts by the MSO, if needed, Rendition of the “Separate Accounts “kept be made in order to ascertain the discrepancy and reconciliation of the accounts.
The letter by NCTA President Vikki Choudhry and COFI President Roop Sharma have pointed out that the regulator had itself withdrawn its tariff-linked tariff orders in the light of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal setting aside the two orders which had allowed for one installment of 15% from 1 April 2014 and the second hike of 12.5% allowed both at the retail and wholesale levels from 1 January 2015.

In view of the TDSAT order and subsequent withdrawal of the orders, there is an immediate need to adjust the increased payments if made by the subscribers to the LCOs, LCOs to the MSOs and MSOs to the broadcasters.

“This TAAP observed to adjust our rightful and legitimate arrears due, upon the MSO, should not be construed as a default in payment or non-payment of agreed / negotiated / invoiced payments due, under an interconnection agreement entered with the MSO in any manner whatsoever or otherwise. Statutory payment obligations towards applicable Entertainment Tax and Service Tax will continue to be fulfilled as is, during this period of observing TAAP by the stakeholders”, the letter said.

The last mile LCOs will also enclose a copy of the last paid invoice / bank statement of the payments made / released to the respective MSO in order to also certify that there are no outstanding dues payable on them as on date.

June 23, 2016
Chrome at variance with MIB on DAS Phase III, claims 78.6 per cent completed

MUMBAI: Even as the Information & Broadcasting Ministry has claimed almost 100 per cent digitization in the ongoing Phase III of digital addressable systems, Chrome Data Analytics & Media says its studies show the figure is much lower at 78.6 per cent.

The Task Force for the final two phases set up by the Ministry was informed in its 15th meeting on 30 May 2016 that about 41 million set top boxes had been seeded in Phase III despite the pending cases in many high courts.

As reported by indiantelevision.com, the claim was made by Information and Broadcasting joint secretary R Jaya who had earlier told the 14th meeting on 16 February 2016 that around 90.44 percent success had been achieved in DAS phase III. During the meeting it was informed that the seeding of STBs by MSOs increased from 6.91 million to 12.43 million between 31 December 2015 and 15 February 2016.

However, Chrome says its calculation of 78.6 per cent is primarily based on the 31.83 million C&S population that was digitized out of a total of 40.50 million C&S population in DAS III areas.

This number was based on primary research that supports the company’s proprietary tools like the Chrome subscriber establishment survey, widely used by the broadcasting industry, taking into account the Census 2011 numbers.

Chrome Data Analytics & Media CEO Pankaj Krishna told indiantelevision.com that “what we have seen in the current DAS phase is significant gains for DTH players, with their considerable infrastructure contributing towards these gains.”

Phase IV of DAS, the last phase of digitization that aims at covering all the remaining urban and rural areas in the country is set to be completed by 31 December 2016.

June 22, 2016
Chrome at variance with MIB on DAS Phase III, claims 78.6 per cent completed

MUMBAI: Even as the Information & Broadcasting Ministry has claimed almost 100 per cent digitization in the ongoing Phase III of digital addressable systems, Chrome Data Analytics & Media says its studies show the figure is much lower at 78.6 per cent.

The Task Force for the final two phases set up by the Ministry was informed in its 15th meeting on 30 May 2016 that about 41 million set top boxes had been seeded in Phase III despite the pending cases in many high courts.

As reported by indiantelevision.com, the claim was made by Information and Broadcasting joint secretary R Jaya who had earlier told the 14th meeting on 16 February 2016 that around 90.44 percent success had been achieved in DAS phase III. During the meeting it was informed that the seeding of STBs by MSOs increased from 6.91 million to 12.43 million between 31 December 2015 and 15 February 2016.

However, Chrome says its calculation of 78.6 per cent is primarily based on the 31.83 million C&S population that was digitized out of a total of 40.50 million C&S population in DAS III areas.

This number was based on primary research that supports the company’s proprietary tools like the Chrome subscriber establishment survey, widely used by the broadcasting industry, taking into account the Census 2011 numbers.

Chrome Data Analytics & Media CEO Pankaj Krishna told indiantelevision.com that “what we have seen in the current DAS phase is significant gains for DTH players, with their considerable infrastructure contributing towards these gains.”

Phase IV of DAS, the last phase of digitization that aims at covering all the remaining urban and rural areas in the country is set to be completed by 31 December 2016.

June 22, 2016
Auction of 2nd batch of 266 FM Phase III channels around mid-Sept

NEW DELHI: The e-auction of the second batch of FM Radio Phase-III channels comprising 266 channels in 92 cities is to be held around mid-September this year. The channels include 227 channels in 69 fresh cities and 39 channels in 23 existing cities which had remained unsold as there were no bids.

As in the first stage, the e-auctions will be conducted by C1 India Private Ltd and the process commenced on 20 June with the notice inviting applications (NIA).

A Pre Bid conference will be held on 11 July 2016 at 2:30 PM and the last date for seeking clarifications on NIA is 14 July 2016 by 12:00 noon. Clarifications to NIA will be given on 21 July 2016.

The last date for submission of Applications is 1 August 2016 by 5:00 pm. This will be followed on 16 August with the publication of ownership details of applicants. The Bidder Ownership Compliance Certificate will be issued on 22 August 2016.

The Pre-Qualification of Bidders will be done by 1 September 2016 or completion of requisite formalities whichever is later, followed four to five days later by a Mock Auction.

The main auction will start four days after the mock auction.

The first payment of 25 per cent of the Successful Bid Amount will be made within five calendar days, and the remaining within 15 calendar days of the close of the Auction and notification of successful bidders by the government.

The e-auction of the first batch of private FM radio phase-III comprising 135 channels in 69 Phase-II existing cities commenced on 27 July 2015 and was completed on 9 September 2015 after 125 rounds of bidding. Out of these, no bid was received in 13 cities having 26 channels, and partial bids were received in 9 cities with 12 channels remaining unsold, which Information and Broadcasting minister Arun Jaitley justified on the ground of “the demand – supply based market economics and bidder’s strategy”.

However, he told Parliament on 4 December 2015 that the Ministry had received the full payment of Rs.1,055.9 crore notified on 16 September 2015 by 1 October that year

Against the cumulative reserve price of Rs.550.18 crore for 135 channels, the government received aggregate provisional commitment of Rs.1156.9 crore for 97 channels in 56 cities. Out of 97 channels, 53 channels in 35 cities were sold at a premium over reserve price whereas 44 channels in 21 cities were sold at reserve price.

The Ministry had decided to conduct e-auction of FM Radio Channels in batches under the extant FM Phase-III Policy.

For the second batch, the Simultaneous Multiple Round Ascending e-auction process will be carried out for allotting the FM channels, conducted over the Internet. Bidders will be able to access the Electronic Auction System to be used for participation in the Auctions using web browsing software: Internet Explorer 11.x, or Mozilla 34.x. The EAS is a designated computer resource for the receiving of electronic records under the provisions of Section 13(2) of the Information Technology Act 2000, as amended from time to time.

While issuing the notice for inviting applications, the government said it reserved the right to summarily disqualify any pre-qualified Bidder, at any stage of the Auction or after the Auction is completed on grounds of noncompliance with eligibility conditions, misrepresentation, non-compliance with the Auction Rules, non-compliance with any other pre-condition prescribed for participating in the Auction or for getting the FM channel, or any matter that may, in the opinion of the government, be contrary to general public interest.

Interested parties were asked to get a copy of this document and any subsequent amendments to the NIA from the MIB website, www.mib.nic.in.

Before operating the FM service a separate specific license i.e. Wireless Operating License shall be obtained by the company from the WPC (Wireless Planning & Co-ordination) Wing of Ministry of Communications & IT, permitting utilization of appropriate frequencies/band for the establishment and operation of concerned wireless component of FM radio Service under usual terms and conditions of such license. The Grant of such License shall be governed by the rules, procedures and guidelines and shall be subject to compliance with all requirements of the WPC wing.

Winning Bidders of FM channel(s) in each city shall be determined in the first stage, a Channel Allocation Stage, which will allocate FM channel(s) simultaneously for all the cities. A second stage, a Frequency Allocation Stage, will identify specific frequencies for the Winning Bidders. More specifically, the two stages shall operate as follows:

The Channel Allocation Stage will allocate number (count) of FM Channels in each of the Cities to the winning bidders. In this stage, Bidders in each City will bid for number of Channels only without linkage to any specific Radio frequency. This stage will consist of a number of Clock Rounds. These rounds will stop once the Auction Activity Requirement is 100 percent and there is no bid submitted by any of the bidders for all Cities in all the channels.

June 20, 2016
Auction of 2nd batch of 266 FM Phase III channels around mid-Sept

NEW DELHI: The e-auction of the second batch of FM Radio Phase-III channels comprising 266 channels in 92 cities is to be held around mid-September this year. The channels include 227 channels in 69 fresh cities and 39 channels in 23 existing cities which had remained unsold as there were no bids.

As in the first stage, the e-auctions will be conducted by C1 India Private Ltd and the process commenced on 20 June with the notice inviting applications (NIA).

A Pre Bid conference will be held on 11 July 2016 at 2:30 PM and the last date for seeking clarifications on NIA is 14 July 2016 by 12:00 noon. Clarifications to NIA will be given on 21 July 2016.

The last date for submission of Applications is 1 August 2016 by 5:00 pm. This will be followed on 16 August with the publication of ownership details of applicants. The Bidder Ownership Compliance Certificate will be issued on 22 August 2016.

The Pre-Qualification of Bidders will be done by 1 September 2016 or completion of requisite formalities whichever is later, followed four to five days later by a Mock Auction.

The main auction will start four days after the mock auction.

The first payment of 25 per cent of the Successful Bid Amount will be made within five calendar days, and the remaining within 15 calendar days of the close of the Auction and notification of successful bidders by the government.

The e-auction of the first batch of private FM radio phase-III comprising 135 channels in 69 Phase-II existing cities commenced on 27 July 2015 and was completed on 9 September 2015 after 125 rounds of bidding. Out of these, no bid was received in 13 cities having 26 channels, and partial bids were received in 9 cities with 12 channels remaining unsold, which Information and Broadcasting minister Arun Jaitley justified on the ground of “the demand – supply based market economics and bidder’s strategy”.

However, he told Parliament on 4 December 2015 that the Ministry had received the full payment of Rs.1,055.9 crore notified on 16 September 2015 by 1 October that year

Against the cumulative reserve price of Rs.550.18 crore for 135 channels, the government received aggregate provisional commitment of Rs.1156.9 crore for 97 channels in 56 cities. Out of 97 channels, 53 channels in 35 cities were sold at a premium over reserve price whereas 44 channels in 21 cities were sold at reserve price.

The Ministry had decided to conduct e-auction of FM Radio Channels in batches under the extant FM Phase-III Policy.

For the second batch, the Simultaneous Multiple Round Ascending e-auction process will be carried out for allotting the FM channels, conducted over the Internet. Bidders will be able to access the Electronic Auction System to be used for participation in the Auctions using web browsing software: Internet Explorer 11.x, or Mozilla 34.x. The EAS is a designated computer resource for the receiving of electronic records under the provisions of Section 13(2) of the Information Technology Act 2000, as amended from time to time.

While issuing the notice for inviting applications, the government said it reserved the right to summarily disqualify any pre-qualified Bidder, at any stage of the Auction or after the Auction is completed on grounds of noncompliance with eligibility conditions, misrepresentation, non-compliance with the Auction Rules, non-compliance with any other pre-condition prescribed for participating in the Auction or for getting the FM channel, or any matter that may, in the opinion of the government, be contrary to general public interest.

Interested parties were asked to get a copy of this document and any subsequent amendments to the NIA from the MIB website, www.mib.nic.in.

Before operating the FM service a separate specific license i.e. Wireless Operating License shall be obtained by the company from the WPC (Wireless Planning & Co-ordination) Wing of Ministry of Communications & IT, permitting utilization of appropriate frequencies/band for the establishment and operation of concerned wireless component of FM radio Service under usual terms and conditions of such license. The Grant of such License shall be governed by the rules, procedures and guidelines and shall be subject to compliance with all requirements of the WPC wing.

Winning Bidders of FM channel(s) in each city shall be determined in the first stage, a Channel Allocation Stage, which will allocate FM channel(s) simultaneously for all the cities. A second stage, a Frequency Allocation Stage, will identify specific frequencies for the Winning Bidders. More specifically, the two stages shall operate as follows:

The Channel Allocation Stage will allocate number (count) of FM Channels in each of the Cities to the winning bidders. In this stage, Bidders in each City will bid for number of Channels only without linkage to any specific Radio frequency. This stage will consist of a number of Clock Rounds. These rounds will stop once the Auction Activity Requirement is 100 percent and there is no bid submitted by any of the bidders for all Cities in all the channels.

June 20, 2016
TDSAT appoints committee to recover dues from Mahua

NEW DELHI: The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal has directed for the setting up of a committee comprising representative of five decree holders and a representative of Mahua Media Private Ltd to improve and strengthen the affairs of the broadcaster and to promote its finances so as to enable it to gradually and in a time-bound manner fully satisfy the five decrees amounting to Rs 33,44,50,344.

A 16-point order of 14 June 2016 by Chairman Justice Aftab Alam and member B B Srivastava noted that the decree holders are DEN, Digi Cable, Wire& Wireless India Ltd, Indian Cable Net Co, and Tata Sky. Mahua as the judgment debtor will be represented by P K Tiwari.

The execution proceedings against Mahua commenced with the filing of the Execution Application on behalf of DEN on 15 January 2014. Later on, the other four decree holders joined in the proceedings with their respective execution applications filed on different dates, leading to a consolidated proceeding against Mahua on behalf of all the five decreeholders. P K Tiwari, the Managing Director of Mahua, after his release from custody on the basis of an order passed by the Bombay High Court first appeared in person before the Tribunal in connection with the present proceedings on 19 March 2015. Since then, he has filed several affidavits undertaking to pay the decretal amounts to the five decree holders following highly deferred schemes of payment. No payment, however, has been made to any decree holder in terms of the undertakings given by him.

The Tribunal observed that: “In hindsight it appears that the affidavits were filed with a view to delude the Tribunal and to somehow delay the discharge of the decrees: there was no intention to make any payments to the decree holders.” The Tribunal also said that Tiwari had “persistently” breached the undertaking on oath taken following the order of the Tribunal in February last year.

The Tribunal also noted that Tiwari made deliberate misrepresentation of facts and tried to suppress some relevant facts from the Tribunal regarding the bank accounts of Mahua and the money received on its behalf from advertisements and other sources even during the current proceedings.

The Tribunal on 30 May 2016 proposed to proceed in terms of 51(d) CPC and expressed the intent to appoint a receiver in the form of a committee comprising one representative from each the decree holders. The decree holders accepted the suggestion “without demur”.

The committee has been appointed Receiver in terms of section 51(d) of the Civil Procedure Code. It will hold its first meeting within 15 days from the date of the order.

The convenor for the first meeting will be the representative of Tata Sky, the decretal amount in whose favour far exceeds the decrees in favour of the other creditors. The convenor shall fix the date, time and the venue of the meeting taking into account the convenience of all concerned.

In the first meeting of the committee, Tiwari will make a full and complete disclosure of all the immovable, movable, tangible and intangible assets of Mahua, all its bank accounts [other than account nos. O109102000036810 (lOBI Bank), 11921900000231 (DCB Bank), and 200999454000 (Induslnd Bank)], all the details relating to its business, all the sources of its revenue, its liabilities and the expenses being incurred by it. In case Mahua has or gets any receipts in cash (as evidenced from its three bank accounts), Tiwari will make full disclosure of the same to the committee which will take control of the cash receipts which shall be appropriated for no purpose other than the legitimate business interests of Mahua.

The committee will then take full and effective and physical control of the offices and records of Mahua, all its immovable, movable, tangible and intangible assets including its business as a broadcaster of television channels subject to any orders passed by a court or any lawful authority in respect of the Mahua assets or its running business.

All the decisions by the committee will be taken by majority vote with every member, including Tiwari entitled to one vote. The committee will maintain a minute book of its meetings. The committee in its first meeting will also frame the rules of procedure for exercise of authority of management over the affairs of Mahua as directed, keeping in mind its object and purpose·.

In furtherance of its object and purpose, the committee shall take decisions and do all acts aimed at improving the business of Mahua a nd enhancing its finances. The committee will take all administrative as well as business decisions concerning the affairs of Mahua. For removal of any doubt, it was made clear by the Tribunal that the committee is fullyauthorized to negotiate with third parties, enter into business arrangements with third parties and execute agreements on behalf of Mahua with any third parties. It will also beopen to the committee to act through smaller sub-committees with appropriate delegation of its powers as per the rules of procedure framed by it.

The committee may, if it so decides, appoint a chartered accountant/auditor to audit the financial affairs of Mahua including all its transactions with ‘related/sister companies’, for example Pragya Vision Pvt Ltd., for the past three years with a specific mandate and view to take note of and report on monies that might have been defalcated/misappropriated/siphoned off by the Directors of Mahua either by themselves or in concert or collusion with Directors/Stakeholders in related companies not excluding Pragya Vision.

The committee will not act, directly or indirectly, in derogation of or contrary to any order concerning Mahua made by a court or any lawful authority and will not alienate or encumber any immovable or movable properties of Mahua without the prior permission of the Tribunal.

Any cheques on behalf of Mahua shall continue to be issued under the signature of Tiwari but from this date no cheque will be signed by Tiwari unless it has the sanction in any special or general decision by the committee. Any cheque signed by Tiwari from this date without the sanction of the committee’s decision would be invalid and make Tiwari liable for the consequences, including the breach of the Tribunal order.

The committee will submit a financial report before the Tribunal by the fifteenth day of the expiry of each financial quarter.

It will be open to the committee to approach the Tribunal for any clarification or permission or instructions or directions on any specific issue.

Any challenge to the decision of the committee by any third party or any dispute a rising from an agreement executed by the committee on behalf of Mahua with any third party shall be an action against Mahua or a dispute between Mahua and the concerned third party and shall be defended/prosecuted on behalf of Mahua by the committee and allexpenses in that connection shall be debited from Mahua’s accounts.

The formation of the Committee and its appointment as Receiver does not in any way discharge the five decrees in question and the rights of the decree holders against Mahua under their respective decrees shall remain subsisting until the decrees are fully satisfied in accordance with law.

(Justice Alam’s term as Chairman has since ended and no successor has so far been announced. TDSAT is at present closed for summer but can hear urgent or important matters that come up for preliminary hearing).

June 20, 2016
TDSAT appoints committee to recover dues from Mahua

NEW DELHI: The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal has directed for the setting up of a committee comprising representative of five decree holders and a representative of Mahua Media Private Ltd to improve and strengthen the affairs of the broadcaster and to promote its finances so as to enable it to gradually and in a time-bound manner fully satisfy the five decrees amounting to Rs 33,44,50,344.

A 16-point order of 14 June 2016 by Chairman Justice Aftab Alam and member B B Srivastava noted that the decree holders are DEN, Digi Cable, Wire& Wireless India Ltd, Indian Cable Net Co, and Tata Sky. Mahua as the judgment debtor will be represented by P K Tiwari.

The execution proceedings against Mahua commenced with the filing of the Execution Application on behalf of DEN on 15 January 2014. Later on, the other four decree holders joined in the proceedings with their respective execution applications filed on different dates, leading to a consolidated proceeding against Mahua on behalf of all the five decreeholders. P K Tiwari, the Managing Director of Mahua, after his release from custody on the basis of an order passed by the Bombay High Court first appeared in person before the Tribunal in connection with the present proceedings on 19 March 2015. Since then, he has filed several affidavits undertaking to pay the decretal amounts to the five decree holders following highly deferred schemes of payment. No payment, however, has been made to any decree holder in terms of the undertakings given by him.

The Tribunal observed that: “In hindsight it appears that the affidavits were filed with a view to delude the Tribunal and to somehow delay the discharge of the decrees: there was no intention to make any payments to the decree holders.” The Tribunal also said that Tiwari had “persistently” breached the undertaking on oath taken following the order of the Tribunal in February last year.

The Tribunal also noted that Tiwari made deliberate misrepresentation of facts and tried to suppress some relevant facts from the Tribunal regarding the bank accounts of Mahua and the money received on its behalf from advertisements and other sources even during the current proceedings.

The Tribunal on 30 May 2016 proposed to proceed in terms of 51(d) CPC and expressed the intent to appoint a receiver in the form of a committee comprising one representative from each the decree holders. The decree holders accepted the suggestion “without demur”.

The committee has been appointed Receiver in terms of section 51(d) of the Civil Procedure Code. It will hold its first meeting within 15 days from the date of the order.

The convenor for the first meeting will be the representative of Tata Sky, the decretal amount in whose favour far exceeds the decrees in favour of the other creditors. The convenor shall fix the date, time and the venue of the meeting taking into account the convenience of all concerned.

In the first meeting of the committee, Tiwari will make a full and complete disclosure of all the immovable, movable, tangible and intangible assets of Mahua, all its bank accounts [other than account nos. O109102000036810 (lOBI Bank), 11921900000231 (DCB Bank), and 200999454000 (Induslnd Bank)], all the details relating to its business, all the sources of its revenue, its liabilities and the expenses being incurred by it. In case Mahua has or gets any receipts in cash (as evidenced from its three bank accounts), Tiwari will make full disclosure of the same to the committee which will take control of the cash receipts which shall be appropriated for no purpose other than the legitimate business interests of Mahua.

The committee will then take full and effective and physical control of the offices and records of Mahua, all its immovable, movable, tangible and intangible assets including its business as a broadcaster of television channels subject to any orders passed by a court or any lawful authority in respect of the Mahua assets or its running business.

All the decisions by the committee will be taken by majority vote with every member, including Tiwari entitled to one vote. The committee will maintain a minute book of its meetings. The committee in its first meeting will also frame the rules of procedure for exercise of authority of management over the affairs of Mahua as directed, keeping in mind its object and purpose·.

In furtherance of its object and purpose, the committee shall take decisions and do all acts aimed at improving the business of Mahua a nd enhancing its finances. The committee will take all administrative as well as business decisions concerning the affairs of Mahua. For removal of any doubt, it was made clear by the Tribunal that the committee is fullyauthorized to negotiate with third parties, enter into business arrangements with third parties and execute agreements on behalf of Mahua with any third parties. It will also beopen to the committee to act through smaller sub-committees with appropriate delegation of its powers as per the rules of procedure framed by it.

The committee may, if it so decides, appoint a chartered accountant/auditor to audit the financial affairs of Mahua including all its transactions with ‘related/sister companies’, for example Pragya Vision Pvt Ltd., for the past three years with a specific mandate and view to take note of and report on monies that might have been defalcated/misappropriated/siphoned off by the Directors of Mahua either by themselves or in concert or collusion with Directors/Stakeholders in related companies not excluding Pragya Vision.

The committee will not act, directly or indirectly, in derogation of or contrary to any order concerning Mahua made by a court or any lawful authority and will not alienate or encumber any immovable or movable properties of Mahua without the prior permission of the Tribunal.

Any cheques on behalf of Mahua shall continue to be issued under the signature of Tiwari but from this date no cheque will be signed by Tiwari unless it has the sanction in any special or general decision by the committee. Any cheque signed by Tiwari from this date without the sanction of the committee’s decision would be invalid and make Tiwari liable for the consequences, including the breach of the Tribunal order.

The committee will submit a financial report before the Tribunal by the fifteenth day of the expiry of each financial quarter.

It will be open to the committee to approach the Tribunal for any clarification or permission or instructions or directions on any specific issue.

Any challenge to the decision of the committee by any third party or any dispute a rising from an agreement executed by the committee on behalf of Mahua with any third party shall be an action against Mahua or a dispute between Mahua and the concerned third party and shall be defended/prosecuted on behalf of Mahua by the committee and allexpenses in that connection shall be debited from Mahua’s accounts.

The formation of the Committee and its appointment as Receiver does not in any way discharge the five decrees in question and the rights of the decree holders against Mahua under their respective decrees shall remain subsisting until the decrees are fully satisfied in accordance with law.

(Justice Alam’s term as Chairman has since ended and no successor has so far been announced. TDSAT is at present closed for summer but can hear urgent or important matters that come up for preliminary hearing).

June 20, 2016
Delhi HC directs Stracon India to pay Rs 7.31 crore to DD for Sharjah Cup 1999

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has affirmed that Stracon India Ltd owes a sum of Rs 7.31 crore to Prasar Bharati towards revenue earned for the Sharjah Cup 1999 between India and Pakistan.

Although an arbitrator had announced an award and a single judge had given a decision, the matter came before a division bench because of an appeal by Stracon India.

Dismissing the appeal, Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Mukta Gupta in their order of 14 March 2016 made available to indiantelevision.com today noted that: “If the learned Arbitrator who authored the award dated 14 March 2014 or the learned Single Judge who has pronounced the decision dated 1 October 2014 had been clear in their reasoning, a simple issue would not have seen so complicated.”

The Court noted that the Arbitrator had awarded Rs 7.31 crores. However, the judges regretted that the Arbitrator had not done the simple analysis of the pleadings but “left the award with the pleadings being simply noted”.

The Court said: “In this context it assumes importance that the appellant had issued cheque No.945977 on 20 May 1999 in sum of Rs 7.31 crores which was dishonoured when Prasar Bharati presented the same for realization”.

Prasar Bharati and Stracon India had entered into an agreement on 5 June 1997 whereby Stracon became the accredited agent for Prasar Bharati concerning Doordarshan Commercial Service. Stracon was to be paid commission of 15 percent. It had a credit facility of between 45 days to 60 days. Indo-Pak one day test series was to be held between 7 April and 16 April 1999 in Sharjah, popularly known as the Sharjah Cup. Pertaining to the Sharjah Cup, an agreement of 22 January 1999 having therein an arbitration clause was executed between the parties.

But the World Cup had to be held in May of the same year. Another party, Nimbus, obtained an order in its favour from the Bombay High Court in this regard.

However by that time, certain amounts realized by Stracon concerning the World Cup from advertisers had been credited in an account maintained with Canara Bank, the benefit whereof was taken by Prasar Bharati together with the liabilities concerning the amounts. Amounts realized by Stracon from the Sharjah Cup and expenses incurred were credited and debited in the same account. In other words, amounts relating to both the World Cup and the Sharjah Cup were credited in the same account and amounts paid out were debited in the same account.

When the matter went for arbitration, Prasar Bharati claimed Rs 7,52,44,234 as the licence fee, Rs 3,33,50,000 towards withholding tax, Rs 3,48,16,159 towards revenue sharing, and Rs 3,56,01,813 towards opportunity cost as relating to the Sharjah Cup.

The Arbitrator award rejected the later three claims on account of no proof. Thus, the Delhi High Court only confined its order to the sum of Rs 7,31,00,000. In any case, even Prasar Bharati counsel Rajeev Sharma conceded that any claim pertaining to the World Cup could not be the subject matter of the arbitration proceedings.

The bank statement also showed that a sum of Rs 26,75,45,007 was realized by the appellant from third parties and the expenses are admittedly Rs 34,27,89,241 and even counsel on both sides did not dispute the correctness of the statement of account.

The court said this meant that “one has to simply bifurcate the amounts concerning the World Cup and the Sharjah Cup and ignore the amounts concerning the World Cup and focus only on the amounts concerning the Sharjah Cup.”

Prasar Bharati claimed that the deposits Rs 12,54,00,000 was for the World Cup and thus for the Sharjah event the amount would be Rs 14,21,45,007 after deducting the World Cup amount from the total of Rs 26,75,45,007. The outgoing for the Sharjah event was Rs 21,52,52,641 and this would mean the amount payable to Prasar Bharati is Rs 7,31,07,634 after deducting the sum of Rs 14,21,45,007 from Rs 21,52,52,641.

But the court said: “It is trite that of various kinds of admissions made by a party, the strongest admission against a party is the one made in a pleading.

The Court said: “There is a clear admission of the pleadings in first paragraph 11 of the Statement of Claim. As regards the second paragraph, the denial is vague and has to be treated as an admission because we do not find anything in the preliminary submissions wherefrom it can be deduced that as per the appellant it denied the bifurcation as pleaded by the respondent in the second paragraph numbered as 11 in the Statement of Claim.”

The judgment said this admission is fortified from the pleading in paragraph 13 of the Statement of Claim and its corresponding reply filed by the appellant. Thus, it is apparent that there is an admission of Rs 14,21,45,007 being towards the Sharjah event.

The court said: “The evasive denial means as admission of the fact pleaded in para 15 of the Statement of Claim that the total outgoing for the Sharjah event was Rs 21,52,52,641. If this be so, the destination is apparent. Deduct Rs 14,21,45,007 from said amount and we have the figure Rs 7,31,07,634.”

On the subject of limitation, the court said “we concur with the view taken by the learned Arbitrator that as long as the parties discussed the issue and till when a clear denial of the liability came from the mouth of the appellant limitation would not commence.”

June 20, 2016
Delhi HC directs Stracon India to pay Rs 7.31 crore to DD for Sharjah Cup 1999

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has affirmed that Stracon India Ltd owes a sum of Rs 7.31 crore to Prasar Bharati towards revenue earned for the Sharjah Cup 1999 between India and Pakistan.

Although an arbitrator had announced an award and a single judge had given a decision, the matter came before a division bench because of an appeal by Stracon India.

Dismissing the appeal, Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Mukta Gupta in their order of 14 March 2016 made available to indiantelevision.com today noted that: “If the learned Arbitrator who authored the award dated 14 March 2014 or the learned Single Judge who has pronounced the decision dated 1 October 2014 had been clear in their reasoning, a simple issue would not have seen so complicated.”

The Court noted that the Arbitrator had awarded Rs 7.31 crores. However, the judges regretted that the Arbitrator had not done the simple analysis of the pleadings but “left the award with the pleadings being simply noted”.

The Court said: “In this context it assumes importance that the appellant had issued cheque No.945977 on 20 May 1999 in sum of Rs 7.31 crores which was dishonoured when Prasar Bharati presented the same for realization”.

Prasar Bharati and Stracon India had entered into an agreement on 5 June 1997 whereby Stracon became the accredited agent for Prasar Bharati concerning Doordarshan Commercial Service. Stracon was to be paid commission of 15 percent. It had a credit facility of between 45 days to 60 days. Indo-Pak one day test series was to be held between 7 April and 16 April 1999 in Sharjah, popularly known as the Sharjah Cup. Pertaining to the Sharjah Cup, an agreement of 22 January 1999 having therein an arbitration clause was executed between the parties.

But the World Cup had to be held in May of the same year. Another party, Nimbus, obtained an order in its favour from the Bombay High Court in this regard.

However by that time, certain amounts realized by Stracon concerning the World Cup from advertisers had been credited in an account maintained with Canara Bank, the benefit whereof was taken by Prasar Bharati together with the liabilities concerning the amounts. Amounts realized by Stracon from the Sharjah Cup and expenses incurred were credited and debited in the same account. In other words, amounts relating to both the World Cup and the Sharjah Cup were credited in the same account and amounts paid out were debited in the same account.

When the matter went for arbitration, Prasar Bharati claimed Rs 7,52,44,234 as the licence fee, Rs 3,33,50,000 towards withholding tax, Rs 3,48,16,159 towards revenue sharing, and Rs 3,56,01,813 towards opportunity cost as relating to the Sharjah Cup.

The Arbitrator award rejected the later three claims on account of no proof. Thus, the Delhi High Court only confined its order to the sum of Rs 7,31,00,000. In any case, even Prasar Bharati counsel Rajeev Sharma conceded that any claim pertaining to the World Cup could not be the subject matter of the arbitration proceedings.

The bank statement also showed that a sum of Rs 26,75,45,007 was realized by the appellant from third parties and the expenses are admittedly Rs 34,27,89,241 and even counsel on both sides did not dispute the correctness of the statement of account.

The court said this meant that “one has to simply bifurcate the amounts concerning the World Cup and the Sharjah Cup and ignore the amounts concerning the World Cup and focus only on the amounts concerning the Sharjah Cup.”

Prasar Bharati claimed that the deposits Rs 12,54,00,000 was for the World Cup and thus for the Sharjah event the amount would be Rs 14,21,45,007 after deducting the World Cup amount from the total of Rs 26,75,45,007. The outgoing for the Sharjah event was Rs 21,52,52,641 and this would mean the amount payable to Prasar Bharati is Rs 7,31,07,634 after deducting the sum of Rs 14,21,45,007 from Rs 21,52,52,641.

But the court said: “It is trite that of various kinds of admissions made by a party, the strongest admission against a party is the one made in a pleading.

The Court said: “There is a clear admission of the pleadings in first paragraph 11 of the Statement of Claim. As regards the second paragraph, the denial is vague and has to be treated as an admission because we do not find anything in the preliminary submissions wherefrom it can be deduced that as per the appellant it denied the bifurcation as pleaded by the respondent in the second paragraph numbered as 11 in the Statement of Claim.”

The judgment said this admission is fortified from the pleading in paragraph 13 of the Statement of Claim and its corresponding reply filed by the appellant. Thus, it is apparent that there is an admission of Rs 14,21,45,007 being towards the Sharjah event.

The court said: “The evasive denial means as admission of the fact pleaded in para 15 of the Statement of Claim that the total outgoing for the Sharjah event was Rs 21,52,52,641. If this be so, the destination is apparent. Deduct Rs 14,21,45,007 from said amount and we have the figure Rs 7,31,07,634.”

On the subject of limitation, the court said “we concur with the view taken by the learned Arbitrator that as long as the parties discussed the issue and till when a clear denial of the liability came from the mouth of the appellant limitation would not commence.”

June 20, 2016
TRAI allows more time for reactions on QoS methodology under DAS

NEW DELHI: With consumers still to get a full experience of digital addressable systems and the various rules relating to it, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has agreed to extend the last date for receipt on comments on its consultation paper on ‘Issues related to Quality of Services in Digital Addressable Systems and Consumer Protection’.

Stakeolders can now send in their comments by 1 July and any counter-comments by 8 July 2016 to the paper issued on 18 May 2016. The earlier date was 17 June for receipt of comments and 1 July 2016 for counter comments.

As the country moves towards the final phase of digital addressable systems, TRAI wants to know if there should be a uniform regulatory framework for quality of service and consumer protection across all digital addressable platforms.

TRAI has also sought opinion of stakeholders on the standards and essential technical parameters for ensuring good quality of service for Digital Cable TV, Direct-to-home (DTH), head-end in the sky (HITS) and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV).

In over fifty questions posed to stakeholders, it wants to know the broad contours for Quality of Service Regulatory Framework for digital addressable systems.

The regulator has asked if timelines relating to various activities to get new connection should be left to the Distribution Platform Operators (DPOs) to be transparently declared to the subscribers. What should be the time limits for various activities including consumer application form and installation and activation of service for new connections, it wants to know.

Referring to a query often asked by stakeholders, the regulator wants to know if the minimum essential information to be included in the CAF should be mandated through regulations to maintain basic uniformity. Should the use of e-CAF be facilitated, encouraged or mandated, it has asked.

TRAI wants to know if an initial subscription period can be charged while providing a new connection to protect the interest of subscribers as well as DPOs, and the protections for subscribers and DPOs during initial subscription period.

June 18, 2016