DTH ops move to TDSAT over licence fee issue

As the government on 24th March had sent a notice to six private DTH operators asking to pay Rs 2,066 crore as license fee dues, Reliance Big TV and Tata Sky on 2nd April have take the issue into Telecom Dispute Settlement 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 9th April. 

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.

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/dth-news/item/4533-dth-ops-move-to-tdsat-over-licence-fee-issue.html
Source: http://cablequest.org/news/dth-news/item/4533-dth-ops-move-to-tdsat-over-licence-fee-issue.html