ITV

Tag: TDSAT

  • SC directs ETV and MAA TV to provide signals to JAINHITS

    SC directs ETV and MAA TV to provide signals to JAINHITS

    MUMBAI: The Supreme Court of India has refused the request of ETV and MAA TV to give stay on the order of the Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal’s (TDSAT) dated 14 March 2014 which had directed the two channels to provide signals to the Headend In The Sky (HITS) operator JAINHITS.

     

    Moreover, the Apex court has directed ETV and MAA TV, in the interim, to provide signals within two-days on pan-India basis to the HITS player.

     

    “Noida Software Technology Park Limited (NSTPL) has been trying to get signals for JAINHITS from various broadcasters for the past two years, but have been denied the same on various grounds. It was only in October last year that broadcasters started providing signals, after orders were passed by the Tribunal. However ETV and MAA TV still were reluctant to provide signals thus necessitating NSTPL to approach TDSAT,” informed NSTPL counsel Vivek Chib. 

     

    According to the Tribunal’s 14 March 2014 order that comprised TDSAT chairperson Justice Aftab Alam and Kuldip Singh, ETV and MAA TV could not refuse to grant signals to JAINHITS on the grounds that certain defaulter local cable operators (LCOs) or multi system operators (MSOs) may approach NSTPL for signals.

     

    The Tribunal held that the respondents i.e. ETV and MAA TV had not furnished the name of a single MSO or LCO that might have been held to be its defaulter by a court or competent authority and to whom the petitioner might supply the signals. Undeniably, the petitioner itself was not in any default in payments to the respondent for the simple reason that they were not in any business relationship earlier. Thus looked at from any angle, the prohibition of the provision to regulation 3.2 of the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable Services) Interconnection Regulations, 2004 was not applicable to this case.

     

    Both ETV and MAA TV had preferred appeals challenging the Tribunal’s orders in the Supreme Court showing unwillingness to provide signals to NSTPL’s JAINHITS.

     

    As a result of this interim order passed in favour of NSTPL, JAINHITS consumers would now be able to subscribe to ETV and MAA TV.

  • TDSAT adjourns DTH licence fee case to 22 May

    TDSAT adjourns DTH licence fee case to 22 May

    NEW DELHI: The petition by private direct-to-home (DTH) operators challenging the notice of the government for clearing arrears of licence fees was adjourned by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) to 22 May.
     

    The DTH operators were given time by chairman Aftab Alam and Kuldeep Singh to file their rejoinders following the reply by the government.

     

    TDSAT also noted that the earlier assurance by the government that it will not pressurise the operators in this regard till the case is taken up for hearing will continue.

      
    Even as the petitioners have alleged that the demand by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry is contempt of court as the matter in this regard is pending in the Supreme Court, I&B secretary Bimal Julka had earlier told indiantelevision.com that the apex court had not issued any stay order.

     
    However, conscious that the TDSAT or the Supreme Court may be moved in the matter, a caveat had been filed by the Ministry in this regard.

     
    The Ministry had recently sent a notice to the six private DTH operators with regard to licence fee dues amounting to Rs 2,066 crore. The private operators are Tata Sky, Dish TV, Airtel Digital TV, Reliance Big TV, Sun Direct and Videocon d2h.

    According to the notice, the six private operators had been asked to pay the amount within 15 days.

     
    However, most of the operators contacted said they had cleared the dues of licence fee.

     
    The operators say the licence fee as demanded under the rules is on gross revenue (GR) whereas they have been asked to pay the fee on the basis of Actual Gross Revenue (AGR). The operators have said the fee should be only on subscription revenue and not on allied earnings such as dividend and interest income. 

     

    Meanwhile, Tata Sky late last month made a payment of Rs 383 crore to the Ministry to cover its license fee and other dues. A demand draft of the amount was submitted to the Ministry. Even as other operators had said that they would prefer to wait till the next hearing.

     
    This amount covers license fee for the year 2013-14 according to the rate specified for license as well as past dues, for which the Ministry had raised a demand note recently.

     

    TataSky MD and CEO Harit Nagpal had earlier said in a statement: “We hope that this will end the long standing dispute on the subject and pave the way forward for a constructive rationalisation of taxes with the support of our parent Ministry.” 

  • Tata Sky pays license fees of Rs 383 crore, Dish TV prefers to wait for court orders

    Tata Sky pays license fees of Rs 383 crore, Dish TV prefers to wait for court orders

    NEW DELHI: The direct-to-home (DTH) operator Tata Sky today made a payment of Rs 383 crore to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry (I&B) to cover its license fee and other dues.

     
    A demand draft of the amount was submitted to the Ministry, even as a petition to this regard is pending in the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) in this regard.

     
    This amount covers license fee for the year 2013-14 according to the rate specified for license as well as past dues, for which the Ministry had raised a demand note recently.

     
    TataSky MD and CEO Harit Nagpal said in a statement: “We hope that this will end the long standing dispute on the subject and pave the way forward for a constructive rationalisation of taxes with the support of our parent Ministry.”

     
    However, Dish TV CEO R C Venkateish told indiantelevision that the TDSAT in its hearing on 4 April had taken an assurance from the government that it would not pressurise the DTH operators in this regard until the next date of hearing on 6 May.

     
    He said that the government had been asked by TDSAT to respond to the petitions by the operators by the next date of hearing.

     
    Although TDSAT is expected to give time to the operators to file their respective rejoinders to the government’s reply, DTH industry sources said the Tribunal may give a directive with regard to the payment.

  • Broadcaster cannot direct service providers on minimum period of telecast: TDSAT

    Broadcaster cannot direct service providers on minimum period of telecast: TDSAT

    NEW DELHI: The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Arbitration Tribunal (TDSAT) has said that a broadcaster cannot insist that the service provider must prescribe a minimum subscription period of three months.

     

     In a judgment that may have far-reaching consequences, TDSAT however interpreted the Tariff Order of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to mean that the service provider may prescribe a maximum of three months as the minimum period of subscription to its subscribers subscribing to a-la-carte channels.

     

    Allowing the petition by Dish TV against ESPN Software India, chairman justice Aftab Alab and member Kuldeep Singh said clause 5.2 of the Reference Interconnect Offer (RIO) offered by ESPN to Dish TV as well as clause 4.6 is not in conformity with the regulations. The bench also directed that a copy of the judgment be supplied to TRAI.

     

     Accordingly, the bench in the judgment written by Singh said clause 5.6 of RIO shall be modified accordingly. Similarly, clause 8.2 of the RIO shall be modified to make the reporting requirement in conformity with the RIO published by respondent on its website.

     

     Referring to charges by ESPN that Dish TV only beamed matches for any month or part thereof when ESPN’s channel is showing cricket matches in which Indian team is participating and the same is activated as part of the ‘India Cricket Package,’ the calculation of subscribers of such a channel shall be based on the total number of subscribers subscribing to all such bouquets that offer “ICP” for the whole month irrespective of the fact when the channel is activated or de-activated.

     

     The number of subscribers of the respondent’s such channel that is shown as part of ICP shall be calculated on a calendar month basis as all the subscribers subscribing to such bouquets which contain the ICP for all such months or part thereof during which the channel is activated.

     

     The Tribunal said the interest of justice will be served if it is directed that for any month or part thereof when ESPN’s channel is showing cricket matches in which Indian team is participating and the same is activated as part of the ICP, the calculation of subscribers of such a channel shall be based on the total number of subscribers subscribing to all such bouquets that offer “ICP” for the whole month irrespective of the fact when the channel is activated or de-activated. The calculation will be on the calendar month basis and if the matches being played on the channel, due to which the channel is activated as part of ICP, spill over to the next calendar month, the subscribers will be counted for both the months.

     

     The Tribunal directed the parties to enter into the agreement based on the modified RIO within a period of two weeks.

     

    In terms of the Tribunal’s order dated 10 April 2012 in Petition No.382(c) of 2011 filed by ESPN, the petitioner was entitled to the restitution of the amount which was paid to the respondent for the months of September 2011 onwards. The parties shall reconcile their accounts by taking the number of subscribers as calculated in accordance the directions of the Tribunal with regard to subscribers. The respondent, if it so desires, may carry out an audit of the petitioner’s SMS and the petitioner shall fully cooperate with the respondent for the same. The audit and reconciliation of accounts shall be completed within four weeks and the past accounts settled within four weeks thereafter.

     

    It said the Tariff Order was clear that the subscribers referred to in clause 6 are the end users and not the distributor of signals and the sub-clause (ii) applies to the distributor of the signals who can specify the minimum subscription period not exceeding three months to their subscribers for a-la-carte channels. Thus, the Tribunal said that this clause did not give ESPN the right to prescribe the minimum period of three months in their RIO.  

     

     According to the ESPN, Dish TV had formulated one ‘India Cricket Pack’ which is a hybrid pack. This pack has been provided in such a way that subscribers opting for that pack get sports channels for the period of special sports events and where India is playing on one side. It will be available for the period of 5 to 10 days and whenever the match is complete, the channel will get disconnected. According to the respondent such practice is causing huge loss to it as the subscribers getting such facility will not be recorded and reported to the respondent.

  • Six broadcasters, content aggregators directed to provide signals to AP MSO

    Six broadcasters, content aggregators directed to provide signals to AP MSO

    NEW DELHI: The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Arbitration Tribunal (TDSAT), on 22 April, directed six broadcasters and content aggregators to enter into agreements with the Andhra Pradesh based multi-system operator Wiretel Digital Networks.

     

    In the judgement pronounced on Tuesday, the TDSAT bench comprising chairman Aftab Alam and member Kuldeep Singh said the agreements will be based on reference interconnect offer.

     

     The broadcasters/aggregators are ESPN, MediaPro, MSM Discovery, Sun, Ma TV and ETV.

     

     The petitioner, who holds a digital addressable system licence, had approached TDSAT in February 2013 after the respondents delayed/refused to provide signals to it on DAS mode.

     

     The bench for the first time also interpreted the DAS Regulations with regard to mandatory provisioning of signals on DAS mode – ‘the must provide’ obligation.

  • TDSAT directs Hathway Cable to pay Rs 9 crore to Star Sports

    TDSAT directs Hathway Cable to pay Rs 9 crore to Star Sports

    MUMBAI: The country’s leading mult-system operator (MSO) Hathway Cable and Datacom and Rupert Murdoch-owned sports broadcaster Star Sports are engaged in two legal battles in the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT).

     

    In the first case, the TDSAT has directed the two parties to settle their dispute over the outstanding dues in the tribunal’s mediation centre. In the interim, in an order last week, the TDSAT had ordered Hathway Cable to pay Rs 8.57 crore to Star Sports within one week in settlement of some of the dues.

     

    Hathway Cable has already made the Rs 8.57 crore payment. The MSO and the sports broadcaster will meet at the mediation centre on 27 March to discuss and settle issues over other payments that are due to Star Sports.

     

    The order reads: “The petitioner admits the dues to the tune of Rs 8,57,18,075. It is further stated on behalf of the petitioner that Rs 1,16,12,554  was  deducted as tax payable at source and the petitioner will give the requisite certificates to the respondent within a week from today. The difference between the dues claimed by the respondent and admitted by the petitioner is thus in the vicinity of Rs 1.93 crore and odd. At this stage, it also needs to be noted that according to the respondent two cheques which added up to Rs 60,27,135 and which are shown in the petitioner’s statement of accounts as having been given to the respondent were not actually received by it. This amount would, therefore, be subject to verification.  In case the cheques have in fact not been given to the respondent the petitioner must pay the admitted amount of Rs 8,57,18,075 plus Rs 60,27,135. The aforesaid payment must be made to the respondent within one week from today i.e. by 17.03.2014.”

     

    In another case filed by Star Sports against the MSO, the sports broadcaster has claimed that in the DAS phase I cities of Mumbai and Delhi, Hathway Cable has been violating the regulatory process by removing Star Sports out of its channel packs and placing them as a la carte without reducing the pack price or substituting the channels. It claims that the MSO is charging additional money for adding the channels above the pack.

     

    This case will come up for hearing on 19 March. TDSAT has already asked Hathway Cable to file an affidavit showing that it is complying with the regulations, the number of subscribers who have requested Star Sports and the number of subscribers for whom Star Sports has been activated.

  • TRAI recommendation on Migration from Phase II to Phase III

    TRAI recommendation on Migration from Phase II to Phase III

    MUMBAI: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) issued its recommendation for the much awaited ‘Migration of FM Radio Broadcasters from Phase II to Phase III’ on 20 January.  In Phase III, an additional 839 channels across 294 cities will be made available for auction.

     

    TRAI has recommended that minimum channel spacing of 400 KHz for FM Radio broadcast issued on 19 April 2012 will come into effect as it would help in increasing the number of FM channels in each city for auction.  Secondly, it has recommended the period of permission for the existing operators, who migrate from Phase-II to Phase-III, should be 15 years from the date of migration.

     

    The other point that will be of concern for most players is the cut-off date. As per the recommendation, the cut-off date for the existing FM Radio operators is to be fixed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), after the completion of auction process for Phase-III of FM Radio. It also stated that the cut-off date for the same should not be later than 31 March 2015. TRAI recommended that an explicit provision needs to be incorporated in the Notice for Inviting Applications (NIA) to permit an existing Phase-II operator to bid for an additional channel (frequency) in existing cities, where it already has an operational FM channel. This is subject to the condition that if it is able to win another channel in the existing city, then it will have to move all existing channel(s) to Phase-III on such terms and conditions as may be prescribed by MIB.

     

    For the migration fee, cities have been categorised into three groups X, Y and Z. TRAI recommends that the migration fee for Group X cities (17 cities where no frequencies are available for auction) should be higher than – Phase-II average bid of the target Group X city multiplied by a factor of 1.5 or Phase-II highest bid of the target Group X city increased by the average increase in auction prices in Group Z cities (vis-?-vis their reserve prices) in the same category in Phase-III. 

     

    The fee for Group Y cities (26 cities where 1/3rd or less of the total frequencies are available for auction), should be higher than Phase-II average bid of the target Group Y city multiplied by a factor of 1.5; or Phase-II highest bid of the target Group Y 

  • TRAI’s ad cap regulation is reasonable: Delhi HC

    TRAI’s ad cap regulation is reasonable: Delhi HC

    MUMBAI: Another challenger to the ad cap petition has got relief from the Delhi HC regarding a Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) regulation on restricting advertisement duration in an hour to just 12 minutes. Maa Television, a leading Telugu GEC, has been asked to tag along with other petitioners such as the News Broadcasters Association (NBA), Sun TV, E24, Pioneer Channel Factory on 13 March.

     

    During the course of the hearing, the bench of acting chief justice B D Ahmed and justice S Mridul observed that “Twelve minutes of advertisement in 60 minutes of a programme is ridiculous. The content becomes an advertisement and the ads become the content.”

     

    The bench also supported TRAI’s decision of bringing in ad cap amongst broadcasters. “What TRAI is doing is reasonable. Take an opinion poll. Everyone will say no to advertisements,” remarked the bench.

     

    However, it also gave the channel an interim relief till the next hearing while asking it to submit its weekly advertising data to TRAI. It has restrained the regulator from taking any coercive measures against the channel.

     

    The NBA is leading the case. The case was initially with the Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) and later shifted to the Delhi HC after the Supreme Court in a separate case stated that challenges to TRAI regulations cannot be heard at TDSAT.

     

    However, the lawyers, who are part of the case, think that the observation won’t have any significant impact on the hearing on 13 March.

     

    With less than a month, all parties involved are gearing up to submit their pleas to the court.

  • HC restricts TRAI from taking coercive action against Kalaignar TV

    HC restricts TRAI from taking coercive action against Kalaignar TV

    MUMBAI: Most of 2013 kept the industry preoccupied  with the 12 minute ad cap saga. After the Supreme Court passed a judgment that barred the Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) from looking at appeals against the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) regulations, the appeals were then moved to the Delhi High Court.

     

    And the latter passed an interim order that forbade the TRAI from taking any coercive action against channels  that had appealed in the HC,  even if they did not adhere to the 12 minute per hour limit.

     

    Now, the Tamil GEC run by political party, DMK, Kalaignar TV has got a favourable order from the HC after it also appealed against the TRAI regulation. The HC has asked the regulator not to take any coercive action against the channel and has asked the latter to submit to it weekly ad duration data.

     

    In December, many channels had moved the court who were then given a hearing date of 13 March 2014. Kalaignar TV’s writ petition will also be heard along with the others on the same date. The channel was also a part of the list of appeals that had come up before the TDSAT but were told to move it to the Delhi HC after the SC judgement.  

     

    TRAI had passed a quality of service regulation for limiting advertising air time to 12 minutes per hour in mid-2013.

  • IndiaCast withdraws contempt application against Dish TV in TDSAT

    IndiaCast withdraws contempt application against Dish TV in TDSAT

    NEW DELHI: The deal between IndiaCast and Dish TV over the DTH operator’s ‘on request channels’ scheme has come into effect with the latter providing IndiaCast channels on an a la carte basis from 1 January 2014.

    However, even before the previous agreement could end, the aggregator once again had approached the Telecom Disputes Settement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), last year, claiming that Dish TV was in violation of the 19 December TDSAT order that had brought about a ceasefire between the two.

    The petitioner (IndiaCast) had filed an application about its apprehension regarding compliance of the TDSAT order by Dish TV and that its channels will be visible in its packs even after the deal terminates. However, during the hearing that came up on New Year’s eve, the aggregator’s counsel withdew the application after the TDSAT observed that there was no non-compliance on the part of Dish TV in following its previous order.

    The bench also stated that the application was premature as the agreement will only come into effect from 1 January when the deal ends for 22 IndiaCast channels which will now only be provided on an a la carte basis above the packages. It also mentioned that Dish TV had modified its scroll to say the same. The application was dismissed as withdrawn by the petitioner.

    The order passed on 19 December noted that no legal objection can be taken to the arrangement proposed to be made by Dish TV to take out IndiaCast channels out of its packs and provide them only on a la carte basis to subscribers who want to view the channels. One deal comes into effect from 1 January for 22 channels and the second comes into effect from 1 April 2014 for 16 channels after the fixed deal agreement expires. IndiaCast counsel Ramji Srinivasan had given an undertaking that the ads published by its client against the respondent shall stop forthwith.