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Broadcasters have moved the Supreme Court to challenge the Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellant Tribunal’s (TDSAT) 28 April order that sets aside the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) 27.5 per cent inflation-linked tariff hike.
The appeals against the TDSAT order have been filed by the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), Star India and Vijay TV. They have been listed for hearing on 15 May by the apex court.
The appellants have argued that TRAI has two functions, namely tariff fixation and inflation-linked adjustment, both of which can go hand in hand. They also contend that the inflation-linked tariff hike was given only after the Supreme Court allowed it.
The inflation-linked tariff hike was last given in 2009. “If the TDSAT was to come to the conclusion that TRAI has to fix tariff so that the processes can go on, why would broadcasters be deprived of a legitimate hike? If the tribunal had to strike down inflation-linked adjustment, then they can also strike down price ceiling as well as both go hand in hand,” says a source involved familiar with the matter.
It is pertinent to note that the appellants in the TDSAT case including Centre for Transforming India and Home Cable Network, along with direct-to-home (DTH) operators like Dish TV, Airtel Digital TV, Videocon d2h and Reliance Big TV, who were interveners in the case, had filed caveats in the apex court anticipating the TDSAT order to be challenged in a higher court.
The tribunal had set aside the amendments in the principal tariff order giving 27.5 per cent inflation-linked hike to broadcasters in two instalments in non-digital addressable system (DAS) areas after getting a green signal from the Supreme Court.
While setting aside the amendments, the tribunal had said, “All that we are saying is that when the TRAI was asked to conduct the exercise de novo the least that it could have done was to consider all the relevant data available with it rather than follow the past practice citing lack of data.”
Read more at: Broadcasters move Supreme Court to challenge TDSAT order on inflation-linked hike | TelevisionPost.com | TelevisionPost.com
The appeals against the TDSAT order have been filed by the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), Star India and Vijay TV. They have been listed for hearing on 15 May by the apex court.
The appellants have argued that TRAI has two functions, namely tariff fixation and inflation-linked adjustment, both of which can go hand in hand. They also contend that the inflation-linked tariff hike was given only after the Supreme Court allowed it.
The inflation-linked tariff hike was last given in 2009. “If the TDSAT was to come to the conclusion that TRAI has to fix tariff so that the processes can go on, why would broadcasters be deprived of a legitimate hike? If the tribunal had to strike down inflation-linked adjustment, then they can also strike down price ceiling as well as both go hand in hand,” says a source involved familiar with the matter.
It is pertinent to note that the appellants in the TDSAT case including Centre for Transforming India and Home Cable Network, along with direct-to-home (DTH) operators like Dish TV, Airtel Digital TV, Videocon d2h and Reliance Big TV, who were interveners in the case, had filed caveats in the apex court anticipating the TDSAT order to be challenged in a higher court.
The tribunal had set aside the amendments in the principal tariff order giving 27.5 per cent inflation-linked hike to broadcasters in two instalments in non-digital addressable system (DAS) areas after getting a green signal from the Supreme Court.
While setting aside the amendments, the tribunal had said, “All that we are saying is that when the TRAI was asked to conduct the exercise de novo the least that it could have done was to consider all the relevant data available with it rather than follow the past practice citing lack of data.”
Read more at: Broadcasters move Supreme Court to challenge TDSAT order on inflation-linked hike | TelevisionPost.com | TelevisionPost.com
