Stay On Arasu TV�S Plan To Collect Subscription Online

The Madras High Court (Madurai Bench) has by an interim order stayed the proposal of the Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable Television Corporation (Arasu Cable) to collect the monthly subscription for cable TV online.

The Arasu Cable had come up with the online subscription plan to eliminate fleecing of subscribers by local cable TV operators who were collecting anywhere between `100 to `150 as monthly subscription against the government-prescribed fee of `70.

However, cable TV operators across Tamil Nadu had opposed the move. The president of the Cable Operators Guild of Madurai, A Pandi, filed a writ plea to stay the operation of the decision.

Pandi contended that his guild has 262 members and that the guild was registered as a Local Cable Operator with the Arasu Cable.

By a notification dated September 28, 2011, the Arasu Cable had authorised all local cable operators to collect the monthly subscription of `70 from each subscriber of which `20 was to be remitted to the Arasu Cable as multi-system operator (MSO) charges.

But, by another notification on February 20, 2013, the Arasu Cable had advised subscribers to remit the subscription fee directly to it from March 1 either by online payment or through its agents. The notification also said that the amount can be paid through the local cable operators. The petitioner argued that the notification does not guarantee a monthly income for local cable operators and was contrary to the earlier notification issued in September 2011.

Besides, the Arasu Cable had failed to solicit the views of the cable operators. Further, the optical fibre cables for providing the cable TV connection to individual subscribers was provided only by the local operators and not the Arasu Cable. Hence, the present petition.

Granting an interim stay on the operation of the latest notification, Justice K K Sasidharan, issued notices to the Arasu Cable MD and the Madurai Collector returnable by  4 March 2013.

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/digitization-news/item/1540-stay-on-arasu-tv%EF%BF%BDs-plan-to-collect-subscription-online.html