ITV

Tag: NTO2.0

  • Supreme Court defers NTO 2.0 hearing to 15 February 2022

    Supreme Court defers NTO 2.0 hearing to 15 February 2022

    Mumbai: The Supreme Court bench of Justices UU Lalit, S Ravindra Bhat, and Bela Trivedi has deferred hearing in the New Tariff Order (NTO) 2.0 case to 15 February 2022. The matter pertains to a bunch of petitions filed by IBDF and certain broadcasters against the Bombay high court order on the implementation of the NTO 2.0.

    In October, the apex court had refused to consider the petitioners’ request for interim relief, and posted the case for final disposal on 30 November.

    The NTO 2.0 passed in January 2020 seeks to cap the pay channel price at Rs 12 from the existing Rs 19. After a legal tussle that lasted over a year, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had managed to get a green signal from the Bombay high court on its implementation on 30 June. 

    The division bench of Bombay HC had upheld the constitutional validity of NTO 2.0, but partly struck down the second provision of the twin conditions as “arbitrary.” As per the second provision, the a-la-carte rates of each pay channel (MRP), forming part of a bouquet, shall in no case exceed three times the average rate of a pay channel of the bouquet of which such pay channel is a part.

    The Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF), an umbrella organisation of private TV broadcasters and a couple of other private channels had moved the SC in July against the Bombay high court judgement which had upheld the constitutionality of the NTO 2.0.

    Earlier this month, Trai moved the deadline for implementation of NTO 2.0 to 1 April 2022 from 1 December 2021. Distribution platforms like DTH and cable will have to seek subscriber choice till 31 March 2022. 

    As per Trai, broadcasters will have to publish new reference interconnection offers (RIOs) to Trai by 31 December, and simultaneously publish the required information about channel and bouquet offerings and their MRPs on their websites. Broadcasters who have already submitted their RIOs in compliance with NTO 2.0 can revise it by 31 December, it said.

    Several large networks including ETV, Discovery Communications, Sun TV, Times Networks, Zeel, SPNI, and others had come out with their new RIOs in October-November.

  • Supreme Court to hold final hearing in NTO 2.0 case today

    Supreme Court to hold final hearing in NTO 2.0 case today

    Mumbai: The Supreme Court is all set to hold the final hearing in the NTO 2.0 case on Tuesday. The matter pertains to a bunch of petitions filed against the Bombay high court order regarding the implementation of the New Tariff Order (NTO) 2.0 issued by the telecom regulator.

    After a legal tussle that lasted over a year, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had managed to get a green signal from the Bombay high court on 30 June on the implementation of the amended NTO 2.0. The division bench of Bombay HC had upheld the constitutional validity of NTO 2.0, but partly struck down the second provision of the twin conditions as “arbitrary”. As per the second provision, the a-la-carte rates of each pay channel (MRP), forming part of a bouquet, shall in no case exceed three times the average rate of a pay channel of the bouquet of which such pay channel is a part.

    The Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF), an umbrella organisation of private TV broadcasters and a couple of other private channels had moved the SC in July against the Bombay high court judgment which had upheld the constitutionality of the NTO 2.0.

    The NTO 2.0 passed in January 2020 seeks to cap the pay channel price at Rs 12 from the existing Rs 19.

    Earlier this month, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) moved the deadline for implementation of NTO 2.0 to 1 April 2022 from 1 December 2021. Distribution platforms like DTH and cable will have to seek subscriber choice till 31 March 2022. 

    As per Trai, broadcasters will have to publish new reference interconnection offers (RIOs) to Trai by 31 December, and simultaneously publish the required information about channel and bouquet offerings and their MRPs on their websites. Broadcasters who have already submitted their RIOs in compliance with NTO 2.0 can revise it by 31 December, it said.

  • Bombay High Court reserves judgement in new tariff order amendment case

    Bombay High Court reserves judgement in new tariff order amendment case

    MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court has reserved the judgment in the case of the new tariff order amendments (NTO 2.0) as the hearing got over on Thursday. While the ambiguity still continues in the ecosystem, the court is expected to pronounce the judgment in a couple of days.

    According to sources close to the development, Telecom regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) cited the judgment by Justice Nariman of Supreme Court delivered in 2018 and judgment of Delhi HC from 2007 to support that it has full right to regulate broadcasters. It alleged that regulating bouquet formation and discounts is important because broadcasters use the same to push unwanted channels to consumers and are only interested in increasing their advertisement revenue.

    On the other hand, broadcasters argued that bouquets help to make large number of channels cheaper for consumers and also attempted to prove that due to competition from streaming services and telcos, regulation for broadcast TV ought to be reduced. As LCOs filed an independent writ petition asking for stay, they also argued that any attempt by TRAI to bring down NCF will kill their business.

    Meanwhile, Kerela HC hearing a matter from MSOs protesting against an effort to reduce NCF has also reserved its order and will pronounce it soon.

    As none of the high courts pronounced any clear order on interim relief, the amended regime came into play from 1 March. Among the DPOs, Tata Sky, Airtel, Dish TV, Siti Cable and IMCL have implemented NTO 2.0 and reduced their NCF.