News Broadcasting
BJP MP Kirit Somaiya to file criminal case against TV trade…
MUMBAI: BJP member of parliament (MP) Kirit Somaiya is gunning for the television trade. Somaiya today announced that he is going to file a criminal, cognizable, civil complaint against the various constituents of the cable business in Maharashtra – MSOs (multi system operators), independent cable operators and broadcasters on Monday, 17 February 2003. Incidentally, the Indian parliament’s budget session will commence on this day.
“The complaints are slated to be filed under various acts including IPC under section 420 (cheating), 406, 441 and 447. The charges include threatening consumers; illegal and co-perversely collecting money; and not depositing the same with the concerned authority the cheating, exploitation of consumer under the MRTP,” says Somaiya.
He adds that the complaints are to be filed with the Mumbai suburban district collector, excise and permit department director, Mumbai police commissioner and collector.
Addressing a press meet today at Mumbai’s BJP headquarters, Somaiya said: “We are giving a strict warning to the cable operators, MSOs and pay channels to stop passing the buck on to one another; stop exploiting and fooling the subscribers.”
Somaiya has laid down the following demands to be accepted by the cable operators, MSOs and broadcasters by Monday, 17 February 2003:
* The cable connections that were disconnected should be restored immediately.
* The price hike imposed on the subscribers for past four months should be withdrawn.
* Cable operators and MSO staff must treat their clientele with respect and dignity.
* Everybody including pay channels, cable ops should reduce their rates
“Broadcasters, MSOs and the cable operators must revert to the pay channel charges that were levied in October 2002. Any cable operators who charges more than the reasonable amount of Rs 150 should be ready to face legal action,” adds Somaiya.
Somaiya has also demanded that the MSOs and the cable operators must disclose the details of the previous three years’ entertainment tax, service tax, income tax collected and paid by them. He alleges that cable operators and MSOs don’t give receipts to consumers.
As per the Maharashtra state laws, registered cable operators have to pay Rs 30 per connection as entertainment tax and a service charge of 5 per cent (pro-rata basis) per connection. Somaiya provided some interesting statistics: some 2407 registered cable operators in the city have disclosed connectivity for 4,47,081 consumers in this financial year and are paying entertainment tax. Additionally, service tax is being paid for only 100,000 subscribers by the cable TV trade.
Somaiya has alleged that the total number of cable connections in the city was in excess of two million in addition to the 1,50,000 commercial establishments that had TV sets. He also mentions that the government should have got Rs 37.50 for every household that pays Rs 200 per month as cable charges.
Somaiya has alleged that less than 400 cable operators were registered with the service tax department which falls under the preview of the Excise department.
Citing the case of three Mumbai suburbs; namely Kanjurmarg, Bhandup and Mulund, Somaiya revealed that the cable operators in these areas had paid service tax for 1400 homes (less than Rs 1,00,000) instead of the registered 56,468 connections. Somaiya stated that the revenue collector had ratified these figures.
Somaiya mentioned that his office has received more than 1000 written complaints from consumers – 50 per cent of these complainants had disclosed their identities and the names of errant cable operators.
Somaiya said that he will pass on all this information to the revenue department, excise department, police and the collector. He added that these departments will have to act because of Somaiya’s status as a member of parliament. He also stated that several local citizens and consumer forums will join him in filing individual complaints and cases against the cable operators.
He also said that the government officials will initiate action and probe the matter further.
0ne will have to wait and watch whether the state authorities will talk the Somaiya talk, and walk his walk. Prima facie, he’s hurled an attractive gauntlet: there’s oodles of cash the government can rake in as Mumbai alone can contribute collections of Rs 75 million per month on a base of two million homes! But this is not the first time such a ruckus has been raised and efforts have been made by politicians and the authorities to make the television trade pay, what has been perceived to be an exorbitant levy.
News Broadcasting
CNN-News18 to air live counting day coverage for five state election results on May 4
The channel is rolling out its biggest election coverage machinery yet for results day on 4th May
NOIDA: The votes have been cast. Now comes the reckoning. CNN-News18 is pulling out all the stops for results day on 4th May, when counting begins across five battleground states — West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry — in what promises to be one of the most closely watched electoral verdicts in recent memory.
The channel’s coverage, titled Battle for the States: The Verdict, kicks off at 7am and runs through the day across linear TV, connected television and YouTube. It is the culmination of CNN-News18’s multi-format editorial initiative, Battle for the States, which has tracked the polls from the beginning under the theme Road to Power.
At the operational heart of the coverage will be the Live Results Hub, the channel’s central command centre built to collate, verify and process real-time data flowing in from reporters stationed at counting centres across constituencies. The hub combines newsroom intelligence, analytics and on-the-ground reporting to deliver what the channel promises will be the fastest and most accurate results coverage in English news.
Leading the on-air charge will be primetime anchors Rahul Shivshankar, Anand Narasimhan, Aman Sharma, Nabila Jamal and Shivani Gupta. They will be joined by a wide panel of commentators including author Chetan Bhagat; GVL Narasimha Rao, senior leader of the BJP; Smita Prakash, editor of ANI; activist Saira Shah Halim; political analyst Sumanth C Raman; Abhijit Iyer Mitra, senior fellow at IPCS; Amitabh Tiwari, founder of VoteVibe; columnist Abhijit Majumdar; Nalin Mehta, managing editor of MoneyControl; political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla; senior journalist Subir Bhaumik; and political analyst Manojit Mandal.
Shivshankar, who serves as editorial affairs director at CNN-News18, set out the stakes plainly. “Counting day is one of the most watched events in the electoral cycle, where speed and credibility are tested in real time,” he said. “Battle for the States: The Verdict is built on that promise, combining ground reporting, sharp analysis and cutting-edge election technology to give viewers the clearest and fastest route to the verdict. On May 4, CNN-News18 will once again be the nation’s most trusted channel to witness democracy in action.”
Smriti Mehra, chief executive of English and Business News at Network18, framed the coverage in broader terms. “Elections are defining national events, and audiences turn to brands they trust in moments that matter,” she said. “CNN-News18 has consistently led from the front in every election coverage, and this special programming reflects the scale of our ambition and editorial strength.”
The channel has form here. It claims to have been India’s most preferred English news destination for election results for the past 20 years, covering everything from the 2024 general elections to the Delhi, Maharashtra, Bihar and BMC polls on the back of what it calls an “Always First, Always Right” record. Five states, one day, and a nation waiting for answers. The clock starts at 7am on 4th May.
