ITV

Category: Regulators

  • TRAI extends deadline for comments on draft Telecommunication Services Interconnection Regulations

    TRAI extends deadline for comments on draft Telecommunication Services Interconnection Regulations

    MUMBAI: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has extended the last for receipt of written comment on its draft Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Interconnection (Addressable Systems) (Amendment) Regulations, 2019 from 9 September to 16 September.

    The authority released the draft regulation on 27 August. TRAI has amended Schedule –III of its 2017 version. “During the consultation undertaken to prepare the audit manual certain comments and observations reflected some issues in the Schedule III of the Interconnection Regulations 2017,” said TRAI in its release.

    It further said, “Accordingly, a draft regulation related to amendment to schedule-III of the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Interconnection (Addressable Systems) Regulations, 2017, has been issued on the issues related to digital rights management systems, transactional capacity of CAS and SMS system, fingerprinting – support for overt and covert fingerprinting in STBs and watermarking network logo for all pay channels.”

    A consultation paper on “Interconnection framework for Broadcasting TV Services distributed through Addressable Systems” was issued by TRAI on 4 May 2016. This consultation process resulted in notification of the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Interconnection (Addressable Systems) Regulations, 2017 (1 of 2017) dated 3 March 2017.

  • TRAI’s new regulation instructs broadcasters & distributors to file RIO

    TRAI’s new regulation instructs broadcasters & distributors to file RIO

    MUMBAI: According to the new regulation by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), broadcasters and distributors of television channels are required to file all the Reference Interconnect Offer (RIO). TRAI has recently issued the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Register of Interconnection Agreements and all such other matters Regulations, 2019 with an aim to promote transparency and non-discrimination in the Broadcasting sector

    “The primary objective of register of Interconnect regulations is to formulate the contours of a reporting system for the service providers so that they can report details of interconnection agreements including commercial details to the authority. It would enable the authority to maintain register of interconnect as per provisions of TRAI Act. Presently the Register of Interconnect Agreement (Broadcasting and Cable Services) Regulation, 2004 is in force,” said TRAI.

    To simplify the process, avoid duplication of reports, and formulate its view on various issues such as accessibility of information of register, the authority had issued a consultation paper on 'The Register of Interconnection Agreements (Broadcasting and Cable Services) Regulations, 2016' on 23 March 2016.

    Based on the comments received in the consultation process and analysis of the developments in the market pursuant to implementation of the new regulatory framework, draft Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Register of Interconnection Agreements Regulations, 2019 was issued by TRAI on 22 April 2019. Comments received on this draft regulation were posted on TRAI's website. Subsequently, an Open House Discussion (OHD) was also held on 10 June 2019 in Delhi. Based on the comments received and analysis of the developments in the market pursuant to implementation of the new regulatory framework these regulations have been prepared.

    The objective of this regulation is to promote transparency and non-discrimination in the broadcasting sector. As per the new regulation, all the Reference Interconnect Offer (RIO) are required to be filed by every broadcaster and the distributor of television channels. Initially the distributor having average active subscriber base below one lakh have been exempted from the obligation of reporting details of interconnection agreements to promote ease of business and reducing regulatory burden on such MSOs with limited resources. The new regulation envisages online filing in electronic mode. The authority has specified that the new regulations will come in force in 120 days, except as regards submission of information related to compliance officer. The intervening period will enable the service provider to prepare for easy compliance.

    If any broadcaster or distributor fails to furnish the information or certificate or fails to verify the reported information, as required under regulation 3, by the due date, it shall, without prejudice to the terms and conditions of its license/permission/registration, or the act or rules or regulations or order made or direction issued thereunder, be liable to pay, by way of financial disincentive, an amount of rupees one thousand per day for default up to thirty days beyond the due date and an additional amount of rupees two thousand per day in case the default continues beyond thirty days from the due date, as the authority may, by order, direct.

    Provided that the financial disincentive levied by the authority under this sub regulation shall in no case exceed Rs 2 lakh.

  • TRAI releases register of interconnect regulations

    TRAI releases register of interconnect regulations

    MUMBAI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Register of Interconnection Agreements and all such other matters Regulations, 2019 to formulate the contours of a reporting system for the service providers.

    “The primary objective of register of interconnect regulations is to formulate the contours of a reporting system for the service providers so that they can report details of interconnection agreements including commercial details to the Authority. It would enable the authority to maintain register of interconnect as per provisions of TRAI Act,” a release from the authority read.

    TRAI issued a consultation paper on the issue back in 2016 to simplify the process, avoid duplication of reports, and formulate its view on various issues such as accessibility of information of register. Draft Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Register of Interconnection Agreements Regulations, 2019 was issued by the authority in April 2019 on the back of the comments on the consultation paper and then an open house discussion was followed by that.

    As per the release, the objective of this regulation is to promote transparency and non discrimination in the broadcasting sector. As per the new regulation, all Reference Interconnect Offers (RIO) are required to be filed by every broadcaster and the distributor of television channels. Initially, the distributor having average active subscriber base below one lakh have been exempted from the obligation of reporting details of interconnection agreements to promote ease of business and reducing regulatory burden on such MSOs with limited resources.

    “The new regulation envisages online filing in electronic mode. The authority has specified that the new regulations will come in force in 120 days, except as regards submission of information related to compliance officer. The intervening period will enable the service provider to prepare for easy compliance,” TRAI added in the release.

  • TDSAT directs Meghbala to pay Rs 1.6 cr to Star India within 1 week

    TDSAT directs Meghbala to pay Rs 1.6 cr to Star India within 1 week

    MUMBAI: The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has directed Meghbala Cable And Broadband Services Pvt Ltd, in an order dated on 2 September, to pay Rs 1.5 crore to Star India within one week. The cable service provider has been instructed to pay the balance amount of the total outstanding due within a period for further two weeks.

    Star India issued a notice to Meghbala Cable on 13 August disclosing that the latter is required to clear the outstanding dues upto invoiced amount for June aggregating to Rs 2,62,97,810. According to the notice, the cable service provider was supposed to pay the required amount on 3 September.

    Learned counsel for Meghbala Cable has submitted that it has reduced the outstanding dues over a period of three months and hence some more accommodation will enable them to liquidate the entire arrears so that it may start paying the current invoiced amounts in accordance with the agreement and the industrial practice.

    “Evidently, the petitioner (Meghbala Cable ) will be liable to pay the invoiced amount even for subsequent months like July and August, 2019 very soon. Therefore, only a limited accommodation can be granted to the petitioner to clear the outstanding dues covered by the notice. For that purpose, we direct that respondent (Star India) shall not give effect to the impugned notice until further orders if the petitioner pays amount of Rs 1.5 crore within one week from today and the balance amount within a period for further two weeks. We trust that petitioner shall make efforts to pay the future invoiced amount within stipulated time,” TDSAT said in an order on 2 September.

  • Discovery Communications questions transparency, objectivity of recent TRAI consultation paper

    Discovery Communications questions transparency, objectivity of recent TRAI consultation paper

    MUMBAI: Discovery Communications India along with others filed a petition against the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in the Delhi High Court for quashing the consultation paper floated on tariff-related issues for broadcasting and cable services.

    “The petitioner submits that the impugned consultation paper is marred by judicial impropriety in as much as the impugned consultation paper fails to conform to the fundamental tenets of transparency and objectivity, by proceeding with a pre-determined notion that channel broadcasters have distorted the broadcasting market and consumer choice through perverse pricing and deep discounting, and have therefore called for suggestions on the ways and means to remedy the situation,” it said.

    “Being aggrieved by the pre-conceived and pre-determined approach of the respondent that is writ large on the face of the impugned consultation paper, the petitioners are constrained to approach this Hon'ble Court under its extraordinary writ jurisdiction to challenge the validity and legality of the process initiated under the Impugned consultation paper by the respondent, which clearly lacks objectivity, transparency and fairness of approach,” it added.

    One of the basic grounds for the petition is that the process of consultation is flawed as well as lacks objectivity. It has also been said that the consultation paper on the new tariff order issued by the respondent demonstrates a pre-determined approach of TRAI with respect to the broadcasters, which defeats the very purpose of such consultation. The petitioner has also submitted that the consultation paper contains serious allegations against the broadcaster.

    It has also been claimed that the consultation paper lacks objectivity, transparency and fairness in approach while 'transparency' is the basis of any consultation process. Hence, the impugned consultation paper fails to conform to the fundamental tenets of transparency and objectivity by asking leading questions in a public consultation exercise.

    “It is submitted that the respondent has vitiated the process of consultation by issuing leading questions along with conclusive statements making allegations against the petitioner. The petitioner submits that the respondent has approached with a close-mind at the stage of consultation process itself,” the petitioners said in the petition.

    Moreover, it also states that the consultation paper has the effect of interfering with the right of the broadcasters with reference to the manner in which, they would want to offer their product in bouquets and to such extent it is a direct infringement with the content of the broadcaster.

  • TRAI sends directive to 5 major MSOs for non-compliance of NTO provisions

    TRAI sends directive to 5 major MSOs for non-compliance of NTO provisions

    MUMBAI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has directed five major multi system operators to comply with all provisions of its the new tariff order (NTO). After receiving scrutiny of the reply of earlier notice from the MSOs, TRAI found violation of rules of NTO.

    Following issues were found by the regulator for Induslnd Media and Communications Ltd   :

    ·         LCOs are not  providing  the itemised invoices to  the  consumers.  Some LCOs  are providing their  own  Cash memo bills.

    ·         Consumer portal provided by IMCL is not  working

    ·         IVRS facility of IMCL does not  have  any  provision for complaint registration.

    ·         LCOs without GST Registration are collecting tax  amount from  the  subscribers but not  depositing it.

    Following issues were found by the regulator for Hathway Digital:

    • Facility of Bill generation is available in LCO portal, but the customers are  not able  to get itemised billing in most cases even  after the request of the  subscriber,

    •LCOs without GST Registration are collecting tax  amount from  the  subscribers but  not  depositing it.

    Following issues were found by the regulator for GTPL Hathway:

    •IVRS facility of M/s GTPL Hathway Ltd.  does not  have provision for  complaint registration

    •The consumer portal of GTPL KCBPL has very  limited facilities. The facility ofupgradation and modifications in  subscription is  not  available on  consumer portal.

    •LCOs without GST Registration are  collecting tax  amount from  the  subscribers but not  depositing it.

    Following issues were found by the regulator for SITI Networks:

    •LCOs can  provide itemized invoices to consumers but most of the  LCOs are  not providing the  same. Some LCOs are  providing their own  cash memo bills;

    •IVRS facility of Siti  Networks Ltd.  does  not   have any  provision for  complaint registration.

    Following issues were found by the regulator for DEN networks:

    • LCO are  providing their own  cash memo bills  using card system for  payment receipts, while  the  subscribers are  not  able to get itemized bills

    • Facility of  upgradation  and  modification in  subscription is not   available on consumer portal.

    •LCOs without GST registration are  collecting tax  amount from  the  subscribers but  not  depositing it.

    All the MSOs have been directed to report compliance as per the new regulatory framework within seven days from the date of issue of this direction.

  • TRAI releases consultation paper on platform services by DTH operators

    TRAI releases consultation paper on platform services by DTH operators

    MUMBAI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued a consultation paper on platform services (PS) offered by DTH operators. The authority has invited comments from stakeholders by 27 September 2019.

    The consultation paper has been released with an aim to address the issues related to platform services (PS) and to come up with a regulatory framework for it.

    TRAI has received a reference from the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) dated 2 July 2019 wherein the authority has been requested to give its considered recommendations related to platform services with reference to DTH guidelines. Some of its discussion points are listed here. DTH operators offering platform service channels have to ensure that the same content is not shared with any other DPO. The one-time registration fee to be enhanced to Rs 1 lakh per PS channel as against Rs 1000 per PS channel recommended earlier by the authority. The maximum number of PS channels that a DTH operator can offer and platform service could be sequenced separately from the regular channels.

    “India has a large base of pay TV subscribers. Predominantly, the pay TV services are being delivered through cable TV and direct to home (DTH) systems. Other modes of TV broadcasting such as internet protocol TV (IPTV), head-end in the sky (HITS) have minuscule subscriber base as compared to the cable TV and DTH systems. All TV channel distribution platform operators (DPOs), i.e. MSOs, DTH and HITS operators, operate certain kind of programming services which are specific to each platform and are not obtained from broadcasters. All these platform-specific services being offered by DPOs but not obtained from broadcasters have been referred to as platform services,” explained TRAI in its release.

    It further said, “DPOs use PS to offer innovative services and product differentiation. It also acts as a unique selling proposition (USP) for DPOs and also helps them in meeting the specific needs of their subscribers.”

    “Unlike private satellite TV channels, which are permitted and regulated under the uplinking/ downlinking guidelines of MIB, Platform services (PS) is not subject to any specific regulations or guidelines as of now,” said TRAI in its consultation paper.

    Earlier, the authority in its recommendations on a regulatory framework for platform services dated 19 November 2014 had, inter alia recommended that the definition of PS shall be “Platform services (PS) are programs transmitted by Distribution Platform Operators (DPOs) exclusively to their own subscribers and does not include Doordarshan channels and registered TV channels. PS shall not include foreign TV channels that are not registered in India.”

  • Independent TV admits total liabilities of Rs 3.65 cr towards Indiacast

    Independent TV admits total liabilities of Rs 3.65 cr towards Indiacast

    MUMBAI: Troubled DTH operator Independent TV has admitted its total liabilities of Rs 3.65 crore towards Indiacast Media Distribution Pvt Ltd, as per a Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) order.

    “Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that notice has been validly served upon respondent and, therefore, prayer for interim relief may be considered today on the basis of contents of Annexure P-14 which, prima facie, shows that respondent has admitted the total liabilities to Rs 3.65 crore,” TDSAT said in the order.

    Prateek Gupta, the advocate on behalf of Independent TV prayed for a short adjournment to seek instructions in respect of interim prayer and to file a reply within two weeks.

    TDSAT has allowed the prayer post the matter for next hearing on 16 September. The order also added that Indiacast may file its rejoinder before the next date.

  • TV homes continue to grow post new tariff order implementation

    TV homes continue to grow post new tariff order implementation

    MUMBAI: The recent IRS study revealed that TV homes have continued to witness growth in the post-implementation period of TRAI’s new tariff order (NTO). According to the IRS study that was conducted, post NTO period shows that in Q2 2019 TV homes grew to 194 million from 192 million TV homes in Q1 2019.

    As per IRS study in 2017, there were 183 million TV homes. According to BARC India in 2016 there were 183 million TV homes and in 2018 there were 197 million TV homes.  

    The NTO was implemented on 1 February 2019 with an aim to allow customers to select and pay only for the channels they want. Many companies also witnessed a bad quarter during the transaction period of NTO.

    After the few months of implementation of NTO, TRAI released a consultation paper to review the issues of pricing of the channels. The paper primarily discusses issues related to discounts in the formation of bouquets, ceiling price of channels for inclusion in bouquet, need for formation of bouquet by broadcasters and DPOs, variable NCF and discounts on long term plan, etc.

  • MIB’s inter-ministerial committee considers TRAI recommendations on monopoly of cable TV services

    MIB’s inter-ministerial committee considers TRAI recommendations on monopoly of cable TV services

    MUMBAI: In the face of rising dominance of certain multi system operators (MSOs) and local cable operators (LCOs) in several states, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had released recommendations on “Monopoly/Market dominance in Cable TV services” back in 2013. The regulatory body was requested by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) to provide its recommendations on this issue. Presently, the recommendations have been considered by MIB.

    Indian National Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari sought a response from MIB about status of the regulatory body’s recommendations, monopoly in cable TV services, reasons behind the government making recommendations to Competitions Commission of India (CCI)and whether this violated the TRAI act and also if the government agrees with TRAI on curbing monopolies.

    One of the TRAI recommendations included Herfindahl– Hirschman Index (HHI) to be used for measuring the level of competition or market concentration in a relevant market. Tewari also asked if the government has an issue with the recommendation while MIB responded that it has also been considered by the committee.

    MIB in its response also said that the acceptance of the recommendations have multi-dimensional implications, which requires consultation with various stakeholders. Moreover, it has also been added that no recommendation has been made to CCI in regards to that.