(13 December 2007 6:30 pm)

NEW DELHI: Broadcasters have not submitted the à la carte rates of their channels, indicating that they will move the Delhi High Court.

"We have decided to move the court," a senior executive of a broadcasting company said.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has not taken any action yet against the broadcasters.

The Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), in its last hearing of the case on 11 December, turned down the plea of the broadcasters that Trai may be refrained from taking punitive action. The Trai counsel had said it would by all means take action.

According to the Tariff Order set by Trai for non-cas areas, all broadcasters must declare their channel prices à la carte to multi-system operators (MSOs). Broadcasters should file a compliance report with Trai by 7 December, a deadline which has lapsed and on which the sector tribunal has refused to grant any relief.

So far, officially only five broadcasters have filed their compliance report with Trai, officials stated. But due to procedural delay and also the fact that Trai chairperson had not been in town, no punitive action has been taken so far.

Trai officials said today that action will be taken, without specifying any date, and added that the names of those five broadcasters who have filed their compliances, along with the rates they have offered, will be put up on the Trai website within a week.

"A process is being followed by the Authority, and we will put up their names and the prices they have offered for their individual channels on our website, but it will take a week," the official said.

After the TDSAT refused to grant a stay on the implementation of the Order of 4 October 2007, broadcasters have been taking time to decide what course of action they should take and been in discussions with their legal teams.