News Broadcasting
Central Tribunal orders Star, Zee to pay service tax
MUMBAI: There are those in the industry who say this was a case that Star India and Zee Telefilms were bound to lose and so it panned out finally.
In a rare case of working for the same cause, both media companies had taken their legal battle to the Central Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (Cestat), Delhi after they were held liable to pay service tax in a ruling of the Commissioner of Central Excise (Appeals) Mumbai, dated 18 November, 2002.
In its final ruling given recently, Cestat rejected the appeals against the orders passed by the Commissioner of Central Excise in Mumbai. Both Zee and Star had argued that they were in fact operating as collection agents for their holding companies based abroad and therefore were not liable to pay service tax as far as ad revenues earned out of India were concerned.
The argument put forth by a high-profile battery of lawyers separately representing Zee and Star was that they worked on a commission basis and therefore their activities could not be termed as ‘taxable service’ as defined under section 65(72).
The argument put forth by Zee Telefilms was that it was only a representative of Asia Today Ltd. (ATL) and Expand Fast Holdings Ltd (Expand), Mauritius selling advertising space in India for its network channels. Star India’s contention was on similar lines as far as its relationship to Satellite Television Region Limited (Star) Hong Kong was concerned.
The final ruling by the Central Tribunal closes the lid on what has been a lengthy appeals process and is bound to be an issue where the Indian Broadcasting Foundation will play a part as regards the service tax component that has to be billed into advertising that the channels book.
This is expected to become an even bigger bone of contention this year because the expectations are that in the next budget, the service tax charge will be hiked to 12 per cent from the current 8 per cent. It in fact went up from 5 per cent in 2002 to 8 per cent in last year’s budget announcement.
When contacted for an official response, a senior Zee Telefilms executive had this to say: “The order does not put any liability on the company as we had been paying the service tax under protest for the period between 1999 and 2001 along with the other industry players.”
The executive clarified that Zee was exploring the possibility of going in appeal against the Tribunal order. He, however added, “A final call on this would depend on the stand the IBF takes because it is an issue that affects everyone in the industry.”
An official reaction from Star could not be elicited at the time this report was filed.
News Broadcasting
Rajesh Sundaram joins NDTV Profit as senior editor, assignment
The 32-year newsroom veteran has launched channels on three continents and covered everything from 9/11 to South African television
MUMBAI: NDTV Profit has bolstered its newsroom with a hire who has done rather more than most. Rajesh Sundaram, a journalist with over three decades of editorial, managerial and consultative experience across India and international markets, joins as senior editor, assignment, tasked with sharpening the network’s newsgathering and real-time response.
Sundaram’s career reads like a tour of Indian media’s most formative moments. He began at Businessworld in 1994, moved to Zee News as bureau chief across Mumbai and Chennai, then joined NDTV in 2002 as part of its political bureau during a particularly febrile period in Indian politics. A stint as India correspondent for Al Jazeera International followed, where he covered key geopolitical developments and got his first serious taste of the global newsroom.
What sets Sundaram apart, however, is his serial channel-launching habit. At NewsX, he helped get the operation off the ground. At Headlines Today, part of the India Today Group, he served as editor. At News Nation, he helped launch the Hindi news channel and its digital ecosystem. He then crossed continents to lead the launch of ANN7 in South Africa as editor-in-chief, overseeing both television and digital. Back in India, he launched Tamil news channels News7 Tamil and Cauvery News, and later served as principal consultant for the launch of Marathi channel Lokshahi. Most recently, he helped build and lead the Press Trust of India’s video service and content studio, before stints consulting for Business Today and The Himalayan Times.
Rahul Kanwal, chief executive and editor-in-chief of NDTV, left little doubt about what Sundaram is expected to deliver. “The assignment desk is where a newsroom’s intent becomes action,” he said. “Rajesh brings a rare combination of field experience and leadership in building news operations at scale.”
Sundaram has reported from across India and the world, covering elections, civil conflicts, the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and the 2008 US presidential election.
At NDTV Profit, he will lead the assignment desk, driving editorial coordination and real-time response across markets and breaking developments. For a business news network sharpening its focus on speed and multi-platform delivery, it has hired a man who has built newsrooms from scratch on three continents. The assignment desk is in good hands.
