Govt orders DTH operators to pay outstanding license fee Rs 20.7 bn

Although the case is still pending in the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on 24th March has sent a letter to all the six private direct-to-home (DTH) operators asking them to pay outstanding license fee dues within the next 15 days. 

As per our sources, the Govt is accepting Rs 2,066 crore as license fee dues from these six DTH operators, in which Dish TV have to pay Rs 625 crore and Tata Sky have to pay Rs 620 crore.

Under the letter Govts orders DTH companies to pay 10 per cent of their adjusted gross revenue (AGR) as annual licence fee to the government. However, some DTH operators like Tata Sky have questioned the definition of AGR. Their contention is that licence fee should be paid only on subscription revenue and not on allied earnings such as dividend and interest income. 

The DTH operators, have also argued that licence fee should be applicable to subscription revenue net of content cost (as content cost is a pass-through to the broadcasters). The matter moved to the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) and the dispute is now lying in the Supreme Court. The matter is sub judice and comes up for hearing in the first week of April. 

As of 31 March 2013, Dish TV’s closing provision pertaining to regulatory dues (including interest) stood at Rs 653.66 crore (Rs 6.54 billion).

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/national-news/item/4489-govt-orders-dth-operators-to-pay-outstanding-license-fee-rs-20-7-bn.html
Source: http://cablequest.org/news/national-news/item/4489-govt-orders-dth-operators-to-pay-outstanding-license-fee-rs-20-7-bn.html