Prasar Bharti asked by TDSAT to furnish Rs 200 mn bank guarantee to ESPN

The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (Tdsat) has asked public broadcaster Prasar Bharati to furnish a bank guarantee of Rs 200 mn to ESPN Software. The payment has to be made over a payment dispute about the live telecast of cricket matches on Doordarshan.

The sports network, ESPN, however, would not be allowed to encash the bank guarantee without permission. The ESPN demand for payment was contested by Prasar Bharti for revenue share arising from advertisements in those cases when matches were telecast live simultaneously on ESPN and Doordarshan.

The state run public broadcaster Prasar Bharati is required to pay 75 per cent of the advertisement revenue from the telecast of cricket, if the rights for the same are held by another broadcaster.

The tribunal said: "Indisputably in terms of the provisions of the Act and the Rules, the respondent in the fact of the present case (Prasar Bharati) is to share 75 per cent of its bid amount, which amounts to Rs 200 million, with the petitioner ESPN, wherefore it has to furnish a bank guarantee."

K Parasaran, Additional Solicitor General appearing for Prasar Bharati, argued that ESPN and ICC have violated the spirit of the Act as it (ICC) continues to give its advertisements and its logo.

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/legal-news/item/674-prasar-bharti-asked-by-tdsat-to-furnish-rs-200-mn-bank-guarantee-to-espn.html
Source: http://cablequest.org/news/legal-news/item/674-prasar-bharti-asked-by-tdsat-to-furnish-rs-200-mn-bank-guarantee-to-espn.html