TRAI regulations challenged, order reserved

Justice P. Naveen Rao of the Telangana High Court on Thursday heard a writ petition challenging the regulations related to cable TV transmission issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and reserved order.

The petition on TRAI’s new regulations, which will take effect on Friday, was filed by cable operators of Telangana. Counsel for the petitioners contended that the regulations were arbitrary and imposed without taking them into confidence. “We were notified about the regulations, which were announced through a press note which got published on December 18, 2018,” counsel said.

The judge wondered how the press statement of TRAI on the regulations could be challenged without questioning the regulations themselves. Assistant Solicitor-General K. Lakshman submitted to the judge that it was part of the attempts by the TRAI to rein in cable TV sector through the regulations.

This initiative was taken up after the Mumbai High Court passed a direction to regulate cable TV sector. TRAI had identified 70 different activities which can be executed by multiple system operators (MSOs) and local cable TV operators (LCOs) through a system of mutual sharing. “It can be accomplished if the two groups agree upon themselves about the tasks to be performed and revenue to be shared through module integrated connections agreement among themselves,” Mr. Lakshman said.

The TRAI would enter the scene and invoke its power under the TRAI Act if this was not made possible, the ASG explained. The regulating agency would make it mandatory for them to enter into a standard inter-connection agreement, and share the revenue at 55:45 ratio between MSOs and LCOs, he said.

He submitted that viewers would benefit from the new system. Out of 837 TV channels in the country, the new regulations would mandate that both multiple system operators (MSOs) and local cable TV operators (LCOs) transmit 500 at a tariff of ₹130 a month.

The rest of the channels can be aired at a higher price. But even this price cannot exceed ₹25 a month for every 20 additional channels, Mr. Lakshman argued He brought to the notice of the judge that earlier several High Courts stayed the regulations initially but eventually vacated the same. He observed that the petitioners should first go to the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), which was formed to hear such disputes.