Applications
Tdsat asks Trai to reconsider Neo’s pricing in 2 months
NEW DELHI: The Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (Tdsat) on 3 July finally asked the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to reconsider its order of fixing the bouquet price for the two Neo channels at Rs 37.50, while asking Neo to justify its rates, the highest for any sports channel countrywide. Neo has been told to supply its justifications to Trai within the next two weeks, and the sector regulator has been asked to consider these justifications, as also the other data available pertaining to other channels before issuing a fresh direction on the price for the channels and the bouquet. Trai has been asked thereafter to issue a fresh direction fixing the price of these two channels and bouquet of Neo Sports. While fixing such prices, Trai must give basis on which it has done so, the tribunal said, and the process has to be completed in 60 days. At the end of the highly attritious case, hearing both parties, the tribunal held that “the manner in which both parties have conducted themselves leaves something to be desired”. The tribunal said that while Neo did not submit its details as to how it fixed the prices of its channels, Trai failed to fix prices of individual channels and also failed to give the basis as to how it arrived at the price of Rs.37.25 for the bouquet. However, till the fresh direction is issued, the present price fixed by Trai will hold, and Neo will not be able to change this over the next two months. However, the court observed that Trai had issued the order under its powers to ‘intervene‘ which is derived from Section 11(B), and thus the sector regulator had not functioned under a wrong legal provision. The court also observed that Trai had issued a Tariff Order u/s 11(1)(b)(ii), (iii), (iv) and 11(2) on 10 October 2004. This exercise was basically tariff fixation which as per the Act was correctly done in exercise of powers vested in Trai under Section 11(2) of the Act. This is known as the Principal Tariff Order. Subsequently, Trai issued notification dated 31 July 2006 exercising its powers under the same Sections as in the main tariff order whereby it amended its original tariff order by incorporating additional clause 3B as under :- The court said: “The principal Tariff Order dated 01.10.2004 was the source for the impugned order and, therefore, the impugned order could not be said to be a fresh exercise of fixation of tariff. “Moreover, for individual channel the Trai could not be expected to go into the gamut of entire procedure before tariff fixation every time,” it added. Lastly, on the Neo argument that its channels were different even within the genre of sports channels because they were cricket centric, Tdsat said that Neo had destroyed its own argument. “According to the appellant its channel NEO Sports is totally for cricket while its other channel NEO Sports Plus is a general Sports Channel. The appellant has priced both the channels equally. “This in our view destroys the argument of the appellant about its channel having a distinct identity. “The appellant has itself equated the two channels when one of them is totally cricket-centric and the other is not so.”
From the legal point of view, there have been a few important observations that will affect future directions by Trai.
One crucial issue was the Neo challenge that Trai had issued the order under a wrong section of the Cable Television Network Act, that is Section 13.
Applications
With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
