Trai Verdict on Paid Channels may be Challenged in Court by Broadcasters

According to people with knowledge of the situation, TV broadcasters want to file a lawsuit against the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (Trai) order requiring paid channels that are accessible on DD Free Dish to be provided for free to other distributors.

According to them, the broadcasters want to file a lawsuit against the Trai announcement through trade associations including the News Broadcasters and Digital Association and the Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation.

A TV station that is allowed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) and is accessible for free on the DD Free Dish platform cannot be designated as a pay channel for addressable distribution systems, according to a directive issued by Trai on Monday.

According to a top TV broadcast executive, the broadcasters have a good case against Trai because the regulator has no authority over Prasar Bharati's free direct-to-home (DTH) platform, DD Free Dish.

The executive stated that pay distribution platforms charge customers for network capacity, but DD Free Dish does not. "Broadcasters don't charge subscription fees from DD Free Dish since it does not charge any subscription fee from customers, whereas pay DTH and cable platforms charge customers for all the pay channels that they offer," the executive said.

A cable TV executive countered that the regulator has every authority to make this regulation as Trai's instructions are directed towards broadcasters, not DD Free Dish.

"A channel should be paid or FTA (free-to-air) uniformly across all platforms, including DD Free Dish," he stated. DD Free Dish now offers more than 15 paid channels covering a variety of news and entertainment topics. Though they broadcast outdated material, the entertainment networks are just slightly more expensive.

According to a distribution executive, some of these entertainment channels have remained premium since it is against Trai regulations to combine premium and free channels. In an effort to guarantee fair competition, cable and DTH companies have been pleading with MIB and Trai to include DD Free Dish in the regulatory framework. Additionally, Trai has advised MIB to gradually transition DD Free Dish to an encrypted platform. The bulk of DD Free Dish users now utilize unencrypted MPEG-2 set-top boxes.

Although Prasar Bharati began selling encrypted MPEG-4 set-top boxes through approved suppliers a few years ago, there was little demand for these set-top boxes.

Customers at the lower end of the spectrum have been switching from Pay-TV platforms—which together serve over 100 million homes—to DD Free Dish, which provides over 100 TV channels.

Industry estimates state that DD Free Dish is currently the nation's largest TV distribution platform, reaching 40–50 million homes. The majority of its users are found in the rural parts of the northern and eastern Indian states.