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The Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) is set to hear the direct-to-home (DTH) licence fee case once again after the Supreme Court disposed of the appeals filed by Tata Sky and Union government on 27 August.
The matter has been put up for hearing on 12 October.
In the previous hearing on 24 February, the tribunal had passed an order stating that it would not proceed with hearing of these petitions as it might lead to conflicting orders.
The DTH operators had challenged the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting’s (MIB) notices issued in March 2014 demanding Rs 2,066 crore (Rs 20.66 billion) in licence fee dues.
During the hearing in the TDSAT, Tata Sky counsel Salman Khurshid stated that the petition was on a very limited issue of imposition of interest.
Though the DTH operator was making all payments to the government, the government had imposed interest on those payments, he had argued.
“By order dated 24.2.2015, the hearing of this batch of cases was adjourned sine die awaiting disposal of some connected appeals before the Supreme Court,” the tribunal said in its brief order.
“We are informed that the appeals before the Supreme Court are now disposed of by order dated 27.8.2015 and there is no longer any impediment before the tribunal in hearing this matter.”
In its order dated 27 August, the Supreme Court bench of Justices Vikramajit Sen and Shiva Kirti Singh had allowed the appeal filed by the Union government and dismissed the appeal filed by Tata Sky following a plea by Tata Sky counsel Harish N Salve.
Salve had stated that the issues raised in these appeals were conclusively covered in principle against his client in the telecom AGR matter.
The bench also disposed of all the pending applications in these appeals.
However, the bench clarified that the disposal of these appeals should not be construed as having determined the quantum and interest that is pending adjudication before the TDSAT.
“We make it clear that the dismissal of these applications that sought impleadment and tagging in the appeals disposed of today shall be without prejudice to the pending applications before the TDSAT,” the bench said in its order.
The TDSAT had granted interim relief to the DTH operators by preventing the MIB from pressing for its claim of pending licence fee dues.
The DTH operators had challenged the licence fee demand on the ground that the matter was pending before the Supreme Court.
The MIB had demanded licence fee based on 10 per cent of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) formula, which is a major point of contention between the government and the DTH companies.
The DTH operators had argued that licence fee should be paid only on subscription revenue and not on allied earnings such as dividend and interest income.
Even as the matter was pending in the TDSAT, sector regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had come out with fresh recommendations that licence fee should be charged based on eight per cent of AGR, which would be calculated by excluding service tax, entertainment tax, and sales tax/VAT paid to the government from the gross revenue.
As part of its recommendations on ‘Issues related to new DTH licences’, which are pending before the government for approval, the authority had also recommended increasing licence period of a DTH operator to 20 years.
Read more at:
http://www.televisionpost.com/trai-tdsat/tdsat-to-hear-dth-licence-fee-case-on-12-oct-as-sc-disposes-of-appeals/
The matter has been put up for hearing on 12 October.
In the previous hearing on 24 February, the tribunal had passed an order stating that it would not proceed with hearing of these petitions as it might lead to conflicting orders.
The DTH operators had challenged the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting’s (MIB) notices issued in March 2014 demanding Rs 2,066 crore (Rs 20.66 billion) in licence fee dues.
During the hearing in the TDSAT, Tata Sky counsel Salman Khurshid stated that the petition was on a very limited issue of imposition of interest.
Though the DTH operator was making all payments to the government, the government had imposed interest on those payments, he had argued.
“By order dated 24.2.2015, the hearing of this batch of cases was adjourned sine die awaiting disposal of some connected appeals before the Supreme Court,” the tribunal said in its brief order.
“We are informed that the appeals before the Supreme Court are now disposed of by order dated 27.8.2015 and there is no longer any impediment before the tribunal in hearing this matter.”
In its order dated 27 August, the Supreme Court bench of Justices Vikramajit Sen and Shiva Kirti Singh had allowed the appeal filed by the Union government and dismissed the appeal filed by Tata Sky following a plea by Tata Sky counsel Harish N Salve.
Salve had stated that the issues raised in these appeals were conclusively covered in principle against his client in the telecom AGR matter.
The bench also disposed of all the pending applications in these appeals.
However, the bench clarified that the disposal of these appeals should not be construed as having determined the quantum and interest that is pending adjudication before the TDSAT.
“We make it clear that the dismissal of these applications that sought impleadment and tagging in the appeals disposed of today shall be without prejudice to the pending applications before the TDSAT,” the bench said in its order.
The TDSAT had granted interim relief to the DTH operators by preventing the MIB from pressing for its claim of pending licence fee dues.
The DTH operators had challenged the licence fee demand on the ground that the matter was pending before the Supreme Court.
The MIB had demanded licence fee based on 10 per cent of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) formula, which is a major point of contention between the government and the DTH companies.
The DTH operators had argued that licence fee should be paid only on subscription revenue and not on allied earnings such as dividend and interest income.
Even as the matter was pending in the TDSAT, sector regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had come out with fresh recommendations that licence fee should be charged based on eight per cent of AGR, which would be calculated by excluding service tax, entertainment tax, and sales tax/VAT paid to the government from the gross revenue.
As part of its recommendations on ‘Issues related to new DTH licences’, which are pending before the government for approval, the authority had also recommended increasing licence period of a DTH operator to 20 years.
Read more at:
http://www.televisionpost.com/trai-tdsat/tdsat-to-hear-dth-licence-fee-case-on-12-oct-as-sc-disposes-of-appeals/
