ITV

Tag: Aftab Alam

  • Arasu gets provisional MSO licence subject to analogue switch-off in three months

    NEW DELHI: The Tamil Nadu-Government run Arasu Cable TV Corporation (TACTV) has been granted provisional licence to operate as a multi-system operator in the state on condition that it switches off analogue signals in the entire state within three months.

    Information and Broadcasting Ministry sources also told indiantelevision.com that it had been made clear that the provisional licence was subject to the Centre taking a final decision on the recommendation of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India that no government owned body should be permitted in the field of running or distributing television channels.

    In Tamil Nadu where there is a court stay in operation since Phase I, TACTV had warned MSOs and LCOs against switching off analogue signals anywhere in the state after 31 March 2017.

    The sources said that Arasu had been granted provisional licence in 2006 at the time of the Conditional Access System on certain conditions based on the TRAI report but this had not been renewed when Digital Addressable System came into force.

    Pointing out that the centre had refused to grant DAS licence to TACTV because recommendations of the TRAI, a Chennai-based MSO had told indiantelevision.com earlier this month that the case in Madras High Court had been gong on for so many years primarily because the Central Government was not clear about its stand and keeps taking adjournments.

    TACTV that it had applied for a DAS licence as far back as July 2012 but the government had failed to take a decision despite an order of the Madras High Court of December 2013 asking the Centre to take a decision on the application of TACTV for grant of it’s license “in the soonest possible time”.

    Earlier on 3 September 2015, the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Arbitration Tribunal adjourned sine die the hearing of a matter in which it had asked the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to explain the denial of digital addressable system licence to the TACTV.

    The order by then Tribunal Chairman Justice Aftab Alam and members Kuldip Singh and B B Srivastava came on being informed by the Government counsel that a single judge of the Madras High Court had on 28 August 2015 stayed the proceedings pending before the Tribunal.

    The Tribunal said however gave liberty to the parties to bring to the notice of the Tribunal any further development in the matter.

    The Information and Broadcasting Ministry had on 14 August 2015 been asked by the Tribunal to file an affidavit in a matter where the root issue is about the denial of digital addressable system licence to the TACTV Corporation Ltd. It also directed the Indian Broadcasting Foundation to get impleaded in the case.

    The Tribunal had held that Arasu was guilty of transmitting television signals in Chennai – which had adopted DAS in the first phase – in analogue mode, and at the same time guilty of using Star signals in the metropolis without any authorization inter-connect agreement with Star India.

    Noting that there is no compliance with the direction of the Court even after more than a year and half, the Tribunal had at that time felt it was imperative to know the stand of the Government for a proper adjudication of the matter.

  • TDSAT directs MSO to pay Rs 2.45 crore as interim payment to Taj TV, sign agreement

    TDSAT directs MSO to pay Rs 2.45 crore as interim payment to Taj TV, sign agreement

    NEW DELHI: Grant lnvestrade Ltd has been directed by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal to make an on-account payment of Rs 2.45 crore in two equal installments to Taj Television and execute an interconnect agreement on RIO terms effective from 21 June 2016.

    Chairman Justice Aftab Alam and member B B Srivastava said the payments in two equal installments will be first within four weeks of 14 June 2016 and the second .within six weeks from the date of the first payment.

    The interim payments and those under the RIO agreement will be without prejudice to the rights and contentions ofthe parties.

    Taj Television told the Tribunal that its dues in terms of the last interconnect agreement comes to Rs 2.15 crores as on30 April 2016. Adding to it the subscript1on up to 20 June 2016 @ of Rs 92 lakhs per month the dues according toMr. Bhatia, would come to Rs four crore.

    (Justice Aftab Alam has since completed his term at Chairperson of the Tribunal.)

  • TDSAT directs MSO to pay Rs 2.45 crore as interim payment to Taj TV, sign agreement

    TDSAT directs MSO to pay Rs 2.45 crore as interim payment to Taj TV, sign agreement

    NEW DELHI: Grant lnvestrade Ltd has been directed by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal to make an on-account payment of Rs 2.45 crore in two equal installments to Taj Television and execute an interconnect agreement on RIO terms effective from 21 June 2016.

    Chairman Justice Aftab Alam and member B B Srivastava said the payments in two equal installments will be first within four weeks of 14 June 2016 and the second .within six weeks from the date of the first payment.

    The interim payments and those under the RIO agreement will be without prejudice to the rights and contentions ofthe parties.

    Taj Television told the Tribunal that its dues in terms of the last interconnect agreement comes to Rs 2.15 crores as on30 April 2016. Adding to it the subscript1on up to 20 June 2016 @ of Rs 92 lakhs per month the dues according toMr. Bhatia, would come to Rs four crore.

    (Justice Aftab Alam has since completed his term at Chairperson of the Tribunal.)

  • TDSAT directs Sat Guru Sai Cable to pay MSM Media

    TDSAT directs Sat Guru Sai Cable to pay MSM Media

    NEW DELHI: Sat Guru Sai Cable Network has been directed by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal to pay a sum of Rs.5,36,173 to MSM Media Distribution Pvt. Ltd as subscription along with interest at the rate of 8 per cent from the date of the filing till final payment.

    Although MSM Media Distribution had demanded Rs 10,30,435, Chairman Justice Aftab Alam and member B B Srivastava in their judgment of 2 June 2016 held that payment could only be made up to the date of the interconnect agreement even if the petitioner had continued to provide signals.

    According to MSM Media Distribution, it entered into two separate agreements on 19 November 2014 whereby the MSO was authorized to retransmit signals of the channels of the broadcasters received from MSM Discovery or Multi-Screen Media to its subscribers and LCOs’ if applicable in the area of Muzaffarpur (Bihar}. The period of agreement is 1April 2014 to 31 December 2014 in both the cases. The monthly subscription fee for MSM channels was Rs 82,572 and for the TVT channels Rs.1,700 excluding applicable taxes. The subscription agreement, according to the petitioner’s averments, also stipulated payments ofinterest at 18 percent per annum for any late payment of the subscription fee.

    The distributor says that these channels were duly transmitted to the MSO which re-transmitted them to its consumers/subscribers and LCOs.

    It has been stated by the distributor that prior to the conclusion of the agreement, the MSO was reminded several times to renew the agreement and to clear the arrears. The signals were continued on a request by the MSO even after the expiry of the agreement.

    Thereafter, the distributor first issued notices and then public notices in local newspapers and failing to get any reply, deactivated the signals of TVT on 29 April 2015 and MSM channels on 11 May 2015.

    No one appeared in TDSAT on behalf of the MSO despite notices and the case was heard ex parte.

    The tribunal found there was no documentary evidence to support the averments about public notices in prominent newspapers, nor was there any document to suggest it had pleaded with the MSO to renew the agreement.

    In view of that, the tribunal limited the payment to the period of agreement only, Rs 5,23,459 for supply of MSMsignals  and Rs. 12,714 for supply  of TVT signals  thus totalling Rs 5,36,173 only. 

  • TDSAT directs Sat Guru Sai Cable to pay MSM Media

    TDSAT directs Sat Guru Sai Cable to pay MSM Media

    NEW DELHI: Sat Guru Sai Cable Network has been directed by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal to pay a sum of Rs.5,36,173 to MSM Media Distribution Pvt. Ltd as subscription along with interest at the rate of 8 per cent from the date of the filing till final payment.

    Although MSM Media Distribution had demanded Rs 10,30,435, Chairman Justice Aftab Alam and member B B Srivastava in their judgment of 2 June 2016 held that payment could only be made up to the date of the interconnect agreement even if the petitioner had continued to provide signals.

    According to MSM Media Distribution, it entered into two separate agreements on 19 November 2014 whereby the MSO was authorized to retransmit signals of the channels of the broadcasters received from MSM Discovery or Multi-Screen Media to its subscribers and LCOs’ if applicable in the area of Muzaffarpur (Bihar}. The period of agreement is 1April 2014 to 31 December 2014 in both the cases. The monthly subscription fee for MSM channels was Rs 82,572 and for the TVT channels Rs.1,700 excluding applicable taxes. The subscription agreement, according to the petitioner’s averments, also stipulated payments ofinterest at 18 percent per annum for any late payment of the subscription fee.

    The distributor says that these channels were duly transmitted to the MSO which re-transmitted them to its consumers/subscribers and LCOs.

    It has been stated by the distributor that prior to the conclusion of the agreement, the MSO was reminded several times to renew the agreement and to clear the arrears. The signals were continued on a request by the MSO even after the expiry of the agreement.

    Thereafter, the distributor first issued notices and then public notices in local newspapers and failing to get any reply, deactivated the signals of TVT on 29 April 2015 and MSM channels on 11 May 2015.

    No one appeared in TDSAT on behalf of the MSO despite notices and the case was heard ex parte.

    The tribunal found there was no documentary evidence to support the averments about public notices in prominent newspapers, nor was there any document to suggest it had pleaded with the MSO to renew the agreement.

    In view of that, the tribunal limited the payment to the period of agreement only, Rs 5,23,459 for supply of MSMsignals  and Rs. 12,714 for supply  of TVT signals  thus totalling Rs 5,36,173 only. 

  • TDSAT dismisses Discovery claim against All Digital Networks

    TDSAT dismisses Discovery claim against All Digital Networks

    NEW DELHI: An application by Discovery Communication India, New Delhi for recovery of certain sums from the multi-system operator All Digital Network India Ltd, Karnataka has been dismissed by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal.

    Chairperson Justice Aftab Alam and member B B Srivastava said that the evidence produced by the broadcaster in the form of e-mails from the MSO did not admit to any specific sums.

    The order therefore said that the application could not be accepted under order XII rule 6, and listed the main matter to come up on 17 August 2016.

    The broadcaster initially demanded a sum of Rs 67,01,292 which was later reduced to Rs.59,82,891 due as on 30 June 2015.

    The tribunal in its judgment of 2 June 2016 noted that “It needs here to be clarified that the slight reduction in the amount of claim appears to have been necessitated on account of some recent decisions of the tribunal in which it is held that no claim for recovery of dues may be entertained by the tribunal normally beyond the term of the Interconnect agreement in writing. However, in case the petitioner is able to establish by evidence that after the expiry of the earlier agreement, the parties were in negotiation in regard to the terms of the fresh agreement, the claim for recovery may be extended to a point three months beyond the expiry of the previous agreement.”

    Thee broadcaster has said the two parties had an Interconnect Agreement from 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015.

    In one of the e-mails, All Digital has referred to a strategic tie-up with GTPL Hathway Pvt. Ltd. and the broadcaster was asked to make changes in the name of the MSO.

    From the first email about negotiations being on, the tribunal said, “it is impossible to infer that the respondent admitted its liability for payment of any specified amount to the petitioner much less the specific amount claimed by thepetitioner in its petition, later amended by the affidavit dated 2 February 2016.

    The tribunal said that the email dated 19 May 2015 had “indeed an admission of certain outstanding dues of the petitioner in respect of which it is stated that the payment would be made by GTPL Hathway Pvt. Ltd. It is, however, evident that the admission is not to the effect that the respondent owes to the petitioner the specified amount as claimed by the petitioner and on the basis of that e-mail, it would not be possible to make any decree as claimed by the petitioner.”

  • TDSAT dismisses Discovery claim against All Digital Networks

    TDSAT dismisses Discovery claim against All Digital Networks

    NEW DELHI: An application by Discovery Communication India, New Delhi for recovery of certain sums from the multi-system operator All Digital Network India Ltd, Karnataka has been dismissed by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal.

    Chairperson Justice Aftab Alam and member B B Srivastava said that the evidence produced by the broadcaster in the form of e-mails from the MSO did not admit to any specific sums.

    The order therefore said that the application could not be accepted under order XII rule 6, and listed the main matter to come up on 17 August 2016.

    The broadcaster initially demanded a sum of Rs 67,01,292 which was later reduced to Rs.59,82,891 due as on 30 June 2015.

    The tribunal in its judgment of 2 June 2016 noted that “It needs here to be clarified that the slight reduction in the amount of claim appears to have been necessitated on account of some recent decisions of the tribunal in which it is held that no claim for recovery of dues may be entertained by the tribunal normally beyond the term of the Interconnect agreement in writing. However, in case the petitioner is able to establish by evidence that after the expiry of the earlier agreement, the parties were in negotiation in regard to the terms of the fresh agreement, the claim for recovery may be extended to a point three months beyond the expiry of the previous agreement.”

    Thee broadcaster has said the two parties had an Interconnect Agreement from 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015.

    In one of the e-mails, All Digital has referred to a strategic tie-up with GTPL Hathway Pvt. Ltd. and the broadcaster was asked to make changes in the name of the MSO.

    From the first email about negotiations being on, the tribunal said, “it is impossible to infer that the respondent admitted its liability for payment of any specified amount to the petitioner much less the specific amount claimed by thepetitioner in its petition, later amended by the affidavit dated 2 February 2016.

    The tribunal said that the email dated 19 May 2015 had “indeed an admission of certain outstanding dues of the petitioner in respect of which it is stated that the payment would be made by GTPL Hathway Pvt. Ltd. It is, however, evident that the admission is not to the effect that the respondent owes to the petitioner the specified amount as claimed by the petitioner and on the basis of that e-mail, it would not be possible to make any decree as claimed by the petitioner.”

  • TDSAT directs Zeel to sign RIO based interconnect pacts with five MSOs

    TDSAT directs Zeel to sign RIO based interconnect pacts with five MSOs

    NEW DELHI: Five multi-system operators have been asked by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal to pay Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd (Zeel) a sum of Rs 3 crore to enable the signing of an RIO based interconnect agreement.

    Chairman Aftab Alam and member B B Srivastava said the agreement would be from 19 May, the date from which the petitioners are operating on that basis.

    Listing the matter to come up on 16 August, the tribunal on 2 June made it clear that both the payment of Rs 3 crores and the direction for execution of the RIO based agreement is without prejudice to the rights and contentions of the parties and will abide by the final result of the petition.

    The petitions were filed by Fastway Transmission Pvt Ltd, Jagsumi Perspectives Pvt Ltd, Novabase Digital Entertainment Pvt. Ltd, and Radiant Digitek Network Pvt. Ltd against a general notice asking all the MSOs who on the date of issuance (11 May) of the fresh RIO by Zee Entertainment did not have a subsisting interconnect agreement with it to execute an agreement based on the RIO. 

    The petitioners were willing to execute an RIO based agreement until the validity and legality of the RIO coming under challenge in this petition and several other petitions on that issue is finally decided by the tribunal.

    But the tribunal said the difficulty was that Zeel said the petitioners owe the sum of Rs 5.4 crores and odd and unless the dues are cleared, it is not inclined even to enter into the RIO based inter connect agreement. But the petitioners say the dues, if properly worked out, would come down to Rs 1,66,16,726, which the petitioners are agreeable to pay.

  • TDSAT directs Zeel to sign RIO based interconnect pacts with five MSOs

    TDSAT directs Zeel to sign RIO based interconnect pacts with five MSOs

    NEW DELHI: Five multi-system operators have been asked by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal to pay Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd (Zeel) a sum of Rs 3 crore to enable the signing of an RIO based interconnect agreement.

    Chairman Aftab Alam and member B B Srivastava said the agreement would be from 19 May, the date from which the petitioners are operating on that basis.

    Listing the matter to come up on 16 August, the tribunal on 2 June made it clear that both the payment of Rs 3 crores and the direction for execution of the RIO based agreement is without prejudice to the rights and contentions of the parties and will abide by the final result of the petition.

    The petitions were filed by Fastway Transmission Pvt Ltd, Jagsumi Perspectives Pvt Ltd, Novabase Digital Entertainment Pvt. Ltd, and Radiant Digitek Network Pvt. Ltd against a general notice asking all the MSOs who on the date of issuance (11 May) of the fresh RIO by Zee Entertainment did not have a subsisting interconnect agreement with it to execute an agreement based on the RIO. 

    The petitioners were willing to execute an RIO based agreement until the validity and legality of the RIO coming under challenge in this petition and several other petitions on that issue is finally decided by the tribunal.

    But the tribunal said the difficulty was that Zeel said the petitioners owe the sum of Rs 5.4 crores and odd and unless the dues are cleared, it is not inclined even to enter into the RIO based inter connect agreement. But the petitioners say the dues, if properly worked out, would come down to Rs 1,66,16,726, which the petitioners are agreeable to pay.

  • TDSAT to Taj TV: Restore signals to All Digital Network

    TDSAT to Taj TV: Restore signals to All Digital Network

    NEW DELHI: Taj Television India Pvt. Ltd has been directed by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal to restore the supply of signals to All Digital Network India Ltd with the MSO agreeing it will makes the aggregate payment of five instalments of Rs 86,64,000 each payable by 30 June.

    The supply of signals thus restored, shall continue provided further payments, if any, are made in terms of the schedule, according to the order by chairman Aftab Alam and member B B Srivastava who listed the case for 22 July. The tribunal also recalled its order restraining the petitioner and GTPL from making any withdrawals from their bank accounts.

    Earlier, a payment schedule was submitted before the tribunal on behalf of GTPL which had accepted to pay off the dues of All Digital Network to Taj Television. Under that schedule, five instalments of Rs 86,64,000 each were payable to Taj Television by 30 June with the fourth and fifth instalment falling due on that date.

    But the tribunal was informed on 3 June that neither the GTPL nor All Digital had paid a single instalment under the schedule. Further, it was told that GTPL is also reported to have walked out of the arrangement with All Digital.

    However, All Digital counsel Manikya Khanna told the tribunal that since GTPL was not complying with the commitment given on its behalf, All Digital accepted its liability to pay the dues of Taj TV and it will make payment in terms of the schedule earlier given on behalf of GTPL.