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Even as the government has asked the private direct-to-home (DTH) operators to cough up Rs 2,066 crore ( Rs 20.66 billion) as licence fee dues, Reliance Big TV and Tata Sky have challenged the demand in the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT). While Reliance Big TV and Tata Sky have filed fresh petitions in TDSAT, Sun Direct has made an application on its petition related to adjusted gross revenue (AGR) which had been filed in 2009. The matters are listed for hearing on Wednesday. Incidentally, the union government has already filed a caveat in the TDSAT in anticipation of the DTH operators challenging the demand. Other DTH operators such as Dish TV, Videocon d2h and Airtel Digital TV are expected to follow suit and challenge the government’s licence fee demand soon. The main contention of the DTH operators is that the I&B Ministry’s licence fee demand amounts to a contempt of the Supreme Court as the ministry has not taken the apex court’s permission before demanding DTH operators to pay the fee. The operators also argue that the ministry’s demand is unjustified since the matter is sub judice. As reported first in TelevisionPost.com, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) had on 24 March sent notices to the six private DTH operators asking them to pay licence fee totalling Rs 2,066 crore. According to the ministry’s demand, Dish TV will have to pay Rs 625 crore ( Rs 6.25 billion), followed by Tata Sky which will need to shell out Rs 620 crore ( Rs 6.20 billion), Airtel Digital TV Rs 298 crore ( Rs 2.98 billion), Sun Direct Rs 230 crore ( Rs 2.3 billion), Videocon d2h Rs 157 crore ( Rs 1.57 billion) and Reliance Digital TV Rs 136 crore ( Rs 1.36 billion). While DTH companies are required to pay 10 per cent of their gross revenue as annual licence fee, they have been demanding that the licence fee should be payable on AGR excluding sales and service tax. The matter was challenged by DTH operators like Sun Direct and Airtel Digital in TDSAT, which had ruled that the licence fee must be paid on the basis of AGR. The TDSAT order was challenged by the government in the SC where the case is still pending. It is pertinent to note that the matter is expected to come up for hearing in the first week of April.
Read more at: Three DTH ops take govt to TDSAT over licence fee issue | TelevisionPost.com | TelevisionPost.com
Read more at: Three DTH ops take govt to TDSAT over licence fee issue | TelevisionPost.com | TelevisionPost.com
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The matter was challenged by DTH
operators like Sun Direct and Airtel
Digital in TDSAT, which had ruled
that the licence fee must be paid
on the basis of AGR. The TDSAT
order was challenged by the
government in the SC where the
case is still pending. It is pertinent
to note that the matter is
expected to come up for hearing in
the first week of April.
operators like Sun Direct and Airtel
Digital in TDSAT, which had ruled
that the licence fee must be paid
on the basis of AGR. The TDSAT
order was challenged by the
government in the SC where the
case is still pending. It is pertinent
to note that the matter is
expected to come up for hearing in
the first week of April.
Dish TV, Tata Sky get a month more to pay licence fee
However, other DTH players will have to wait for the TDSAT's decision in a hearing scheduled on Friday
Private direct-to-home players Tata Sky and Disk TV can breathe easy for now, as the Telecom Disputes and Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has deferred a case -- regarding the payment of licence fees on basis of their gross revenue -- to May 6.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) (the respondent in the case) has communicated that it would not press for realisation of the impugned demand until then. The MIB has time till then to prepare and present its case in the tribunal.
However, other DTH players - Airtel Digital TV, Reliance Digital TV, Videocon d2h and Sun Direct -- will have to wait for the TDSAT's decision in a hearing scheduled on Friday.
The tribunal observed the licences granted to operators other than Dish TV and Tata Sky have a clause (3.1.1) that defines the parameters of gross revenue. Keeping this in mind, it ruled that it will hear the case of the four operators on April 4, while the case involving Tata Sky and Dish TV will be heard on May 6.
The DTH operators had approached thetribunal challenging the MIB's demand to the operators to pay Rs 2066crore in license fees by 9 April. The ministry had sent notices tothe six private DTH entities on 24 March asking them to pay the saidamount in 15 days.
As per the current mandate, DTHoperators are to pay 10 per cent of the gross revenue as license fee.The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had recentlyrecommended that the fee be brought down to eight per cent.
The licence fee demanded by the MIB has been calculated on gross revenue for each DTH service provider. However, the service providers are of the opinion that the licence fee should be levied as a percentage of the adjusted gross revenue (which excludes service tax and sales tax). The ministry and DTH operators have been at the loggerheads over the issue for quite some time.
In fact, this is not the first time that the DTH service providers have approached the TDSAT in this regard. In 2009, Airtel DTH and Sun Direct had approached the tribunal, which had ruled in their favour, saying licence fee should be paid on the basis of adjusted gross revenue.
However, the MIB took the matter to the Supreme Court challenging the TDSAT's ruling. The case is still pending and is expected to come up for hearing soon.
A top management executive of a leading DTH operator said, "We have no problem with paying the fee. What we don't understand is why the MIB sent a notice, while the matter is still with the Supreme Court. The issue is clearly sub judice."
Other officials from the industry echoed similar sentiment and said the TDSAT's decision had come as a relief.
Dish TV, Tata Sky get a month more to pay licence fee | Business Standard
However, other DTH players will have to wait for the TDSAT's decision in a hearing scheduled on Friday
Private direct-to-home players Tata Sky and Disk TV can breathe easy for now, as the Telecom Disputes and Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has deferred a case -- regarding the payment of licence fees on basis of their gross revenue -- to May 6.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) (the respondent in the case) has communicated that it would not press for realisation of the impugned demand until then. The MIB has time till then to prepare and present its case in the tribunal.
However, other DTH players - Airtel Digital TV, Reliance Digital TV, Videocon d2h and Sun Direct -- will have to wait for the TDSAT's decision in a hearing scheduled on Friday.
The tribunal observed the licences granted to operators other than Dish TV and Tata Sky have a clause (3.1.1) that defines the parameters of gross revenue. Keeping this in mind, it ruled that it will hear the case of the four operators on April 4, while the case involving Tata Sky and Dish TV will be heard on May 6.
The DTH operators had approached thetribunal challenging the MIB's demand to the operators to pay Rs 2066crore in license fees by 9 April. The ministry had sent notices tothe six private DTH entities on 24 March asking them to pay the saidamount in 15 days.
As per the current mandate, DTHoperators are to pay 10 per cent of the gross revenue as license fee.The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had recentlyrecommended that the fee be brought down to eight per cent.
The licence fee demanded by the MIB has been calculated on gross revenue for each DTH service provider. However, the service providers are of the opinion that the licence fee should be levied as a percentage of the adjusted gross revenue (which excludes service tax and sales tax). The ministry and DTH operators have been at the loggerheads over the issue for quite some time.
In fact, this is not the first time that the DTH service providers have approached the TDSAT in this regard. In 2009, Airtel DTH and Sun Direct had approached the tribunal, which had ruled in their favour, saying licence fee should be paid on the basis of adjusted gross revenue.
However, the MIB took the matter to the Supreme Court challenging the TDSAT's ruling. The case is still pending and is expected to come up for hearing soon.
A top management executive of a leading DTH operator said, "We have no problem with paying the fee. What we don't understand is why the MIB sent a notice, while the matter is still with the Supreme Court. The issue is clearly sub judice."
Other officials from the industry echoed similar sentiment and said the TDSAT's decision had come as a relief.
Dish TV, Tata Sky get a month more to pay licence fee | Business Standard
Md Anzar said:
Here the interesting point is that license given to Tatasky and DishTV is different from other operators "The tribunal observed the licences granted to operators other than Dish TV and Tata Sky have a clause (3.1.1) that defines the parameters of gross revenue.". So Tatasky and DishTV have huge due compared to others.
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