iWorld
IBDF joins TDSAT dispute over TV streaming on WAVES platform
Case raises fresh questions around OTT regulation and live TV rights.
MUMBAI: India’s broadcasting industry is discovering that in the streaming era, the real drama may no longer be on television but in the courtroom. The Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF) has stepped into an escalating legal battle over the streaming of private television channels on Prasar Bharati’s OTT platform, WAVES, adding fresh heat to a dispute that could shape how live TV is distributed online in India.
The matter, currently before the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), was originally filed by the All India Digital Cable Federation (AIDCF), which has sought directions to stop WAVES from carrying live linear television channels through its internet platform.
At the centre of the dispute lies a larger regulatory question increasingly confronting the broadcasting industry: when television channels move online, do traditional broadcasting rules still apply?
According to industry sources, AIDCF has argued that broadcasters are not permitted to distribute television channels to live-streaming applications through satellite decoder boxes infrastructure historically reserved for licensed operators such as cable companies, DTH platforms, IPTV providers and Headend-In-The-Sky (HITS) operators.
The federation has reportedly questioned whether WAVES is sourcing channels through satellite-based distribution systems or internet-based delivery networks, a distinction that could prove critical in determining regulatory compliance.
But the case has also exposed the industry’s own contradictions.
Sources within IBDF pointed out that several member companies of AIDCF, including multi-system operators (MSOs), themselves operate OTT applications that stream the very same television channels now under dispute.
That irony has added another layer of complexity to an already murky regulatory landscape, where the lines between cable television, IPTV and OTT streaming continue to blur.
The legal proceedings have now widened into a broader debate over who exactly governs internet-delivered television services in India.
During an earlier hearing, Prasar Bharati argued that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) does not regulate OTT content, and therefore TDSAT may itself lack jurisdiction to hear the case.
That argument strikes at the heart of India’s ongoing regulatory dilemma around digital broadcasting. While traditional television platforms operate under tightly defined licensing structures, OTT services have largely evolved in a lighter-touch regulatory environment even as they increasingly replicate conventional TV experiences through live streaming.
WAVES, launched by public broadcaster Prasar Bharati as part of its digital expansion strategy, offers live television channels alongside internet-delivered content through its streaming platform.
Now, what began as a dispute over one platform’s channel carriage could end up becoming a defining test case for the future of live television in India’s streaming age, where the difference between a cable box and an app is rapidly becoming harder to define.
