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Tag: Somaiya

  • Pay channels go on blink in Mumbai; BJP’s Somaiya filing PIL against MSOs broadcasters at 2:30 pm

    Pay channels go on blink in Mumbai; BJP’s Somaiya filing PIL against MSOs broadcasters at 2:30 pm

    MUMBAI: At the stroke of midnight (give or take a few minutes) viewers settling down for some late night movie action across Mumbai and Thane were left staring at blank TV screens. All pay channels were shut down in a simulcast move carried out by the cable fraternity.
     

    The reason for the 24-hour shutdown: Cable operators were making a point that the recent hikes in subscription rates, around which consumers have been up in arms against MSOs as well, should be squarely blamed on broadcasting companies.

    The action, endorsed by all leading MSOs and cable operators, came hours ahead of a public interest petition that BJP MP Kirit Somaiya is to move in the Mumbai high court against both cable ops and broadcasters over the recent hikes in rates. Somaiya’s PIL is scheduled to be placed before the high court at 2:30 pm today, according to his press secretary.

    Meanwhile, the Press Trust of India quoted Maharashtra Cable Consumers’ Action Committee spokesman Sudhakar Velankar as blaming “multi-national broadcasting companies for the sudden hike in cable television rates.”

    He blamed both the Centre and the state government for “failing to rein in broadcasting MNCs.”

    Velankar strongly supported the cable operators move to blank “pay channels” for a day but said they are fighting for their cause and “consumers fight will continue”.

    Some cable operators have meanwhile hit out at Somaiya. WIN cable distributors Suvarn Amonkar and Sadanand Kadam said, “It is shame that the BJP MP, who has filed a petition in the high court, has made the Union government a respondent”.

    “If Somaiya, who belongs to the ruling BJP, cannot give justice to common customers, then he has no right to continue in his post”, PTI quoted INCableNet distributor Ganesh Nayadu as saying in a statement.

    The cable ops, meanwhile have got support from an unexpected quarter. Consumer Guidance Society of India president Anand Patwardhan, who has taken up cudgels against cable ops in the past, is this time with them on the issue of pay channels airing advertisements.

    MSOs have said there should be a limit to the amount of commercial time broadcasters can have in a day on pay channels. A figure that has been mentioned is that out of total 1400-odd minutes of programming a channel has in a day, the limit of commercial airtime (excluding in-house promos) should be capped at 0.5 per cent.

    Rationale: if a consumer is paying, for example, Rs 50 for a premium movie channel, then he should not be irritated by ads.

    Patwardhan has reportedly quoted a 1956 United Nations Convention ruling (?), which purportedly says that a channel cannot be termed a pay channel if commercials are on it.

    All this action comes just as the government has warned that the deadline for CAS rollout in the four metros of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai, will have to be adhered to come what may.

    The question really is if consumers are saying that cable rates cannot be above Rs 150 a month, how are operators going to extract the Rs 6000 or so for a digital box or the Rs 2,500 for an analogue box that will be required to be paid by each pay TV subscriber?

    Expect the battle lines to get even more sharply drawn out as the 14 July deadline draws nearer.

  • Somaiya files PIL; Congress shoots of letter to governor

    Somaiya files PIL; Congress shoots of letter to governor

    MUMBAI: BJP MP Kirit Somaiya, along with MLAs Mangal Prabhat Lodha and Atul Sharma, finally filed a public interest litigation on the issue of hike in cable subsription rates in the High Court this afternoon. 26 respondents have been named in the petition.

    The PIL demands a stay on the cable rate hike and an immediate halt to the alleged exploitation of hapless consumers by cable operators. The PIL has also asked for restoration of cable connections that were cut when consumers, adhering to Somaiya’s earlier appeal, insisted on paying cable ops a maximum monthly fee of Rs 150 and demanded a receipt. BJP party officials claim that “vengeful” cable ops cut off cable connections to the homes which did not adhere to the subscription rate hike.

    The PIL alleges that pay channels have been needlessly bringing increasing pressure on the paying consumers. It states that while 40 per cent of Mumbai households possess black and white television sets (which show a maximum of eight channels), a mere two per cent of households have TV sets which show more than 10 channels. 

    The PIL has asked for transparency in the operations of broadcasters by asking that they regularly declare their varied sources of revenues.

    Meanwhile, averse to missing out on a plum opportunity to send the “correct message” to the voter, the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) has also joined the, has appealed to the Maharashtra governor, asking that ‘foreign pay channels be prohibited from increasing rates till the “Set Top Box Bill” (actually means the CAS Bill) comes into effect.’ (Click here for a full draft of the MPCC memorandum)

    The MPCC however has been more comprehensive in its criticism of pay channels, maintaining that they be stopped from airing ‘obscene programmes’ and that they be made free channels “since they earn hundreds of crores through advertisements.” The MPCC has also demanded a subsidy on the cost of the set top box, that becomes mandatory once CAS is implemented.

    Meanwhile, television screens in Mumbai and Thane blanked out pay channels throughout the day, as the Maharashtra Cable Consumers’ Action Committee called for a 24 hour blackout to protest multi-national broadcasting companies’ sudden hike in cable television rates.

    The blackout has hit Sony the worst of all as SET is scheduled to air live the 48th Filmfare Awards at 9 pm tonight. The MCCAC’s blackout is supposed to hold out till midnight.

    The move by the operators is also meant to reinforce the message that if they are unwilling to pay more than Rs 150 in monthly subscriptions, then they better get used to watching TV without any pay channels.

    In a way, the action might well prove a good thing for the pay channels ahead of CAS. The public will have a clear feel of “just what they will be missing” should they opt for the basic free to air tier once CAS comes into play.

  • Somaiya files cases against TV trade

    Somaiya files cases against TV trade

    MUMBAI: Making good on his threat to made last Saturday to get after the television trade, BJP member of parliament (MP) from north-east Mumbai Kirit Somaiya, today filed complaints against the various constituents of the cable business in Maharashtra – MSOs (multi system operators), independent cable operators and broadcasters.
     

    This evening Somaiya lodged complaints with the Mumbai commisioner of police, the city collector as well as the excise and permit department director.

    The complaints were filed under various acts including Indian Penal Code under section 420 (cheating), 406, 441 and 447. The charges include threatening consumers; illegal and co-perversely collecting money; and not depositing the same with the concerned authority the cheating, exploitation of consumer under the MRTP,” according to Somaiya’s press attache.

    Somaiya has warned that if satisfactory responses to his compalints are not received by Wednesday, he would be moving the courts through a public interest litigation (PIL).

    Somaiya has made the following demands:

    * Cable connections that were disconnected should be restored immediately.

    * Price hike imposed on subscribers in the past four months be withdrawn.

    * Cable operators and MSO staff must treat their clientele with respect and dignity.

    * Everybody including pay channels, cable ops should reduce their rates.