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Category: TDSAT

  • TDSAT warns Digicable for pirating GTPL Hathway signals in Ahmedabad

    TDSAT warns Digicable for pirating GTPL Hathway signals in Ahmedabad

    NEW DELHI: Digicable Network (India) Ltd of Mumbai was today warned by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) against piracy in Ahmedabad of the signals of GTPL Hathway Pvt Ltd of Gujarat.

     

    Disposing the petition with an order, TDSAT chairman Justice Aftab Alam and members Kuldip Singh and BB Srivastava also warned Digicable to be ready to face legal consequences if it persisted in such piracy.

     

    Digicable counsel Diggy Pathak sought to say that Digicable was attempting to expand in Ahmedabad and had carried the signals on a trial basis, something the Tribunal took strong exception to.

     

    GTPL counsel Jayant Mehta said that his client had informed all the concerned broadcasters and also referred to losses because of this piracy.

     

    The Tribunal also took note of submissions by Star India counsel Arjun Natarajan, counsel Kunal Tandon for both IndiaCast UTV Media Distribution and Multi Screen Media, Mumbai and Upender Thakur for Taj TV said they had begun internal inquiry after being informed of this piracy.

     

    At one stage during arguments, Justice Alam expressed annoyance about increasing piracy and wondered if the TDSAT should now set up an investigation wing as well.

  • TDSAT directs Taj TV to not disconnect Indusind signals in DAS & non-DAS areas

    TDSAT directs Taj TV to not disconnect Indusind signals in DAS & non-DAS areas

    NEW DELHI: Taj Television (India) Pvt. Ltd, Mumbai was today directed by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) not to give effect to the disconnection order in Digital Addressable System (DAS) and non-DAS areas against IndusInd Media & Communications Ltd if the latter makes payment according to formulas drawn up by the Tribunal as an interim arrangement.

     

    Under the order for DAS areas, Indusind counsel Vandana D. Jaisingh handed over to Taj TV counsel Tejveer Singh Bhatia four cheques amounting to Rs 5.42 crore. In addition, Indusind will pay Rs 10 crore by 2 November, Rs 5 crore by 9 November and Rs 10 crore by 30 November, 2015.

     

    Admitting both cases and posting them before the Registrar’s court on 18 December for completion of pleadings, the Tribunal made clear that the directions are towards earlier dues as far as DAS areas are concerned. 

     

    In addition, Indusind must make payments of the invoices raised by Taj TV for the months of October and November this year for DAS areas.

     

    TDSAT chairman Aftab Alam and members Kuldip Singh and B B Srivastava said the payments made in terms of this interim order will be without prejudice to the rights and contentions of the parties.

     

    In the case relating to non-DAS areas, the Tribunal asked Indusind to make immediate payment of the outstanding dues up to 30 September subject to verification by reconciliation of accounts.

     

    Taj TV had issued the disconnection notice as it claimed that dues amounted to Rs 9.58 crore till 31 October but this was disputed by Indusind, which submitted that it had made already payment of Rs 2.26 crore and was entitled to pay for October by 15 November.

     

    However, Taj said the amount was arrived at after taking the amounting already paid into account.

     

    The Tribunal directed Indusind to go to the respondent’s Mumbai office on 3 November for this purpose.

     

    Following the reconciliation of accounts, the Tribunal said Indusind will pay the dues up to 30 September by6 November. The invoice for the month of October 2015 will be paid by 15 November.

     

    Bhatia accepted notice on behalf of Taj TV for both petitions and was asked to file the reply within three weeks from today (30 October). Rejoinder, if any, may be filed within two weeks thereafter.

     

    The agreement under which Indusind receives its signals from Taj TV came to end on 31 March but the latter continued to supply signals and Indusind continued to receive the signals and re-transmit them to its affiliates without any renewal of agreement and under the pretext that negotiations for the renewal of the agreement is going on between the two sides.  

     

    The matter finally came to a head when Taj TV gave disconnection notices for disconnection of its supply of signals to the petitioner. The disconnection notices are based on grounds of non-payment of dues and non-renewal of the interconnect agreement. In the notice, the dues are quantified at Rs 36.44 crore upto 30 September. The amount of dues mentioned in the disconnection notice relate only to the monthly subscription fees.

     

    Jaisingh disputed the amount mentioned in the disconnection notices. According to her, the admitted dues amount to Rs 24.85 crore. She contended that after the expiry of the agreement, the respondent is unauthorisedly raising invoices increasing the rate by more than 10 per cent from the rate mentioned in the previous agreement. 

     

    Bhatia said the invoices from April 2015 onwards had been raised strictly in terms of the provisions of the agreement. 

     

    The Tribunal felt that the submission of Bhatia “appears to be prima facie correct but we do not wish to make any conclusive pronouncement on that aspect of the matter at this stage.”

  • Prasar Bharati moves TDSAT against Mumbai based FM radio licensee

    Prasar Bharati moves TDSAT against Mumbai based FM radio licensee

    NEW DELHI: Indian pubcaster Prasar Bharati has moved the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) against Mumbai based FM radio licensee Pan India Network Infravest Pvt Ltd for not vacating its properties in different cities even after the end of the lease period.

     

    To this regard, Prasar Bharati has admitted eight petitions for hearing to TDSAT.

     

    The petitions have been filed by the pubcaster from Allahabad, Amritsar and other parts of Punjab, Jalgaon, Varanasi, Akola, Agra, and Nanded.

     

    TDSAT chairman Aftab Alam and members Kuldip Singh and B B Srivastava admitted the petition after hearing Government counsel Rajeev Sharma. No one appeared for Pan India Network Infravest.

     

    Pan India Network was directed to file a reply within three weeks and rejoinder by Prasar Bharati, if any, two weeks thereof.

     

    The case was listed for 15 December before the Registrar’s court for getting the pleadings completed. 

     

    FM operators were given some land by Prasar Bharati on its land in many cities for putting up transmitters etc under conditions set out in agreements with each of them.

  • Calculate FM migration fee on reserve price for cities with no bids: TDSAT

    NEW DELHI: The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry was today directed to take the reserve price as the bid amount for computation of the non-refundable One Time Migration Fee (NOTMF) for migrating from Phase II to Phase III of Radio FM in cities where no successful bids had come in the recent e-auction.

     

    According to the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), all FM channels of Phase II in these cities, which had applied for migration to Phase III will pay this amount within three working days of receiving the computed figure.

     

    Stressing that this was only an interim measure, TDSAT chairman Aftab Alam and members Kuldip Singh and B B Srivastava made it clear that in case the petition failed, the applicants would have to payment the balance of the NOTMF with interest within the date specified by the Tribunal.

     

    Listing the matter for further hearing on 26 November, the Tribunal asked the Ministry represented by counsel Rajeev Sharma to file its reply by 13 November and the petitioner – Association of Radio Operators in India (AROI) represented by counsel Abhishek Malhotra – to file rejoinder – if any – by 20 November.

     

    The Tribunal had yesterday extended the last date of payment of 75 per cent balance of NOTMF till today.

     

    AROI has challenged the criteria for NOTMF for migrating from Phase II to Phase III of Radio FM.

     

    The primary plea of AROI is that the I&B Ministry is charging very high fee for smaller cities for NOTMF.

     

    During arguments, Malhotra said that the plea taken by the Ministry for the cities, which were put up for auction but failed to get successful bids was erroneous. The Ministry had reiterated the plea of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) that the final prices for allocation of channels in such cities have not been determined.

     

    Malhotra said that existing Phase II FM operators in these cities who wanted to migrate had to be told the NOTMF they could pay for migration.

     

    Earlier in a letter to I&B secretary Sunil Arora, TRAI secretary Sudhir Gupta rejected the plea of AROI in this regard with regard to ten cities for which no bids had come in the recent e-auctions.

     

    Gupta said the AROI had in its representation “assumed zero percent increase in reserve prices for 10 group Z cities where auction was unsuccessful as no bids were received. This assumption of AROI is not tenable as the final prices for allocation of channels in such cities have not been determined.”

     

    He added that AROI had indicated another two concerns in respect of calculation of NOTMF by the Ministry. In the first case wherein example of Shimla is given by AROI, the methodology followed by MIB is in line with TRAI’s recommendations of 20 February, 2014, as this has been explained in an example given in a table of TRAI’s recommendations on “Migration of FM Radio Broadcasters from Phase-11 to Phase-III” dated 20 February, 2014.

     

    Accordingly, the request of AROI for review of NOTMF on this ground is not acceptable, Gupta said.

     

    The letter was in response to a letter from the Ministry of 8 October wherein the Ministry has sought TRAI’s comments on the methodology used by I&B Ministry for calculation of NOTMF for existing cities and to confirm whether it has done calculation of city wise NOTMF in accordance with the TRAI’s recommendations of 20 February, 2014.

     

    Gupta said TRAI had examined the methodology of calculation of NOTMF followed by the Ministry for group X, Y and Z cities. “The methodology followed by the Ministry for calculation of NOTMF is in accordance with TRAI’s recommendations dated 20 February, 2014.”

  • TDSAT to hear AROI’s petition challenging radio migration fee methodology; payment date extended

    TDSAT to hear AROI’s petition challenging radio migration fee methodology; payment date extended

    NEW DELHI: The vacation bench of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) today extended till tomorrow the deadline for payment of the balance of the non-refundable One Time Migration Fee (NOTMF) for migrating from Phase II to Phase III of Radio FM.

     

    The vacation bench of TDSAT chairman Justice Aftab Alam and member Kuldip Singh, who gave the interim direction after preliminary hearing, are expected to hear tomorrow the petition by the Association of Radio Operators in India (AROI) challenging the criteria for NOTMF for migrating from Phase II to Phase III of Radio FM.

     

    The primary plea of AROI is that the Information and Broadcasting Ministry is charging very high fee for smaller cities for NOTMF.

     

    Meanwhile in a letter to I&B Secretary Sunil Arora yesterday, TRAI secretary Sudhir Gupta rejected the plea of AROI with regard to ten cities for which no bids had come in the recent e-auctions.

     

    Gupta said the AROI had in its representation “assumed zero percent increase in reserve prices for 10 group Z cities where auction was unsuccessful as no bids were received. This assumption of AROI is not tenable as the final prices for allocation of channels in such cities have not been determined.”

     

    He said AROI had indicated another two concerns in respect of calculation of NOTMF by the Ministry. In the first case wherein example of Shimla is given by AROI, the methodology followed by the I&B Ministry is in line with TRAI’s recommendations of 20 February, 2014, as this has been explained in an example given in a table of TRAI’s recommendations on “Migration of FM Radio Broadcasters from Phase-11 to Phase-III” dated 20 February, 2014.

     

    Accordingly, the request of AROI for review of NOTMF on this ground is not acceptable, Gupta said.

     

    The letter was in response to a letter from the Ministry dated 8 October wherein the Ministry has sought TRAI’s comments on the methodology used by the I&B Ministry for calculation of NOTMF for existing cities and to confirm whether the I&B Ministry has done calculation of city wise NOTMF in accordance with the TRAI’s recommendations of 20 February, 2014.

     

    Gupta said TRAI had examined the methodology of calculation of NOTMF followed by the Ministry for group X, Y and Z cities. “The methodology followed by the Ministry for calculation of NOTMF is in accordance with TRAI’s recommendations dated 20 February 2014.”

     

    However, Gupta said, “TRAI has neither verified the arithmetic accuracy of city-wise NOTMF calculated by the I&B Ministry nor looked into the city-wise prices determined through the auction process.”

  • TDSAT asks UCN to restore Star channels to Raj Cable

    TDSAT asks UCN to restore Star channels to Raj Cable

    NEW DELHI: Nagpur multi-system operator (MSO) UCN Cable Network has been directed to restore the supply of Star channels to Raj Cable Network, Maharashtra, with immediate effect as an interim measure.

     

    Giving this directive, the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) also asked the MSO to ensure that the local cable operators’ (LCOs) network receives the Indiacast and Taj Television channels.

     

    If the channels of the two broadcasters have been discontinued at the instance of the MSO, TDSAT chairman Justice Aftab Alam and members Kuldip Singh and B B Srivastava said, “It will be viewed as a case of deliberate contempt and the respondent (UCN Network) will be liable for the consequences.”

     

    The Tribunal also said until further orders, Raj Cable will not transmit through its network the signals received from any MSO other than UCN Network.

     

    Raj Cable had stated that not knowing the proper forum for redressal of its grievances, the petitioner earlier filed a suit in the court of Civil Judge, Yavatmal. The suit was called out before the court of Civil Judge yesterday and the next date fixed in it is 27 October.

     

    In the petition before the Tribunal, however, it is undertaken that the suit will be withdrawn.

     

    Counsel Vikram Singh accepted notice on behalf of the MSO and was asked to file reply within two weeks with rejoinder, if any, within one week from the date of receipt of a copy of the reply. The matter was listed for 19 November.

     

    Raj Cable alleged that the MSO unauthorisedly disconnected the supply of Star, Indiacast and Taj Television to its network. MSO counsel Vikram Singh admitted the disconnection of Star channels to Raj Cable, which took effect on 8 October but denied discontinuation of the supply of Taj Television and Indiacast channels.

  • TDSAT directs Karnataka LCO body to resolve differences with Den Network

    TDSAT directs Karnataka LCO body to resolve differences with Den Network

    NEW DELHI: The Karnataka State Digital Cable TV Operators Welfare Association, Bangalore, has been directed to visit the Bangalore office of Den Network on 29 October for reconciliation of accounts and hold negotiations for entering into a proper interconnect agreement.

     
    Listing the matter for 29 October, the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) took note of the Association’s faxed copy of the declaration and undertaking as required under the procedural direction issued by the Tribunal.
     

    Association counsel Nittin Bhatia undertook to file the original copy of the undertaking on 28 October. Den Network’s counsel Vaibhav Srivastava accepted notice. 
     

     

    The Tribunal order came after hearing Bhatia and Srivastava. 

  • TDSAT warns Den Network against piracy of Star channels

    TDSAT warns Den Network against piracy of Star channels

    NEW DELHI: The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has cautioned and warned Den Network to desist from activities like piracy and transmitting any channels of Star available to it on a la carte basis on any of its channels available in any bouquets.

     

    As per Star, it telecast the Salman Khan starrer film Bajrangi Bhaijaan on one of its channels, Star Gold which is available to Den’s network only on a la carte basis. In order to circumvent the a la carte restriction, Den unauthorisedly transmitted the movie on one of its local channels called Den Cinema, which was available to its entire subscriber base.

     

    TDSAT chairman Justice Aftab Alam and members Kuldip Singh and B B Srivastava said, “Prima facie it appears to us that Den is indulging in practices that are not only not sanctioned by law but which in fact may constitute criminal offence.”

     

    It further clarified that in case Den is “violated the warning it would do so at its risk as to costs and consequences. It is further made clear that Star, if so advised, may file claim for damages against Den for allegedly having indulged in piracy of its signals.” 

     

    The Tribunal noted that in the petition filed by Den, Star had even earlier alleged similar piracy and that matter had been posted for 3 November as Den counsel Abhay Chattopadhyay sought time to get instructions. 

     

    The Tribunal hoped that by the next date, Chattopadhyay may file Den’s reply to the two applications. 

     

    In the present application, Star counsel Kunal Tandon alleged that Den was “indulging in rampant piracy of some of the Star channels.” Both the earlier application and the present application are supported by screen shots and CDs.

  • TDSAT permits Star to examine MSO’s headend before signing agreement

    TDSAT permits Star to examine MSO’s headend before signing agreement

    NEW DELHI: Noting that it was a ‘fledgling multi-system operator,’ the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has said that ‘Star India cannot have any objection to give its signals on RIO terms to Akash Tori Infocom Services Pvt. Ltd.

     

    However, accepting the plea by Star India to inspect the MSO’s headend, TDSAT chairman Aftab Alam and members Kuldip Singh and B B Srivastava asked the MSO to inform the broadcaster about the date when it can examine the headend. 

     

    The MSO had filed a petition seeking Star’s signals in digital mode on RIO terms. 

     

    Star counsel Arjun Natarajan accepted the notice on behalf of his client.

     

    Adjourning the matter for 4 November, the Tribunal asked Natarajan to inform it about the result of the headend inspection.

  • TDSAT asks Eenadu TV to sign agreement with Kakinada MSO

    TDSAT asks Eenadu TV to sign agreement with Kakinada MSO

    NEW DELHI: Noting that Andhra Pradesh based multi system operator (MSO) Sri Maruthi Digital Network cannot be described as a fly-by-night operator, the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Arbitration Tribunal (TDSAT) has asked Eenadu Television to send its representative to the Kakinada area from where the MSO operates to hold a joint sample survey of the petitioner’s SLR. 

     

    Sri Maruthi counsel Deenadayalayan presented to the Tribunal a copy of its application for a Digital Addressable Systems (DAS) licence.

     

    Adjourning the matter for 4 November and noting that Eenadu was prepared to sign an interconnect agreement, the Tribunal said the joint survey should be completed by 20 October.

     

    The parties may then execute the interconnect agreement on the basis of the joint survey report.

     

    The Tribunal said the application by the MSO ‘sufficiently shows that he intends to stay in the business.’