DTH
DTH players seek removal of eight per cent licence fee to stay competitive
Mumbai: Direct-to-home (DTH) players have approached the government to waive the eight per cent license fee imposed on them that is in line with a similar proposal for broadband services so that they remain competitive in the market.
According to a PTI report, the industry body DTH association has approached the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) following a proposal under consideration of Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to waive the licence fee for broadband services.
In a letter dated 11 May sent to the I&B ministry, the industry body said the DTH volumes have been declining quarter on quarter for a while now and has put thousands of crores of investments and employment of over a lakh direct and indirect employees of the sector at risk.
The number of active subscribers with pay DTH operators decreased from 69.86 million at the end of June to 68.89 million by the end of September, according to latest Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) data.
It added that broadband is expanding very fast and is being used for content distribution as well.
The industry body welcomed the proposal to remove licence fees to help the consumers but requested that “the same policy may be applicable to DTH, and therefore seek a waiver of licence fees in line with DoT proposed decision.”
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has recommended the DoT to waive license fees on broadband services for five years.
“Now with the licence fee being waived for broadband, hence IPTV, OTT will become an even more formidable force and DTH will remain the only distribution platform paying an eight per cent content license fee while distributing just as cable, HITS, FreeDish, and IPTV do, making DTH the most uncompetitive in comparison to every other content distribution platform,” the association said.
DTH Operator
JC Flowers withdraws NCLT plea against Dish TV over EGM demand
Move eases pressure on DTH firm as long-running shareholder dispute cools
MUMBAI: In a breather for Dish TV India, JC Flowers Asset Reconstruction has withdrawn its petition before the National Company Law Tribunal seeking directions to convene an extraordinary general meeting.
The development was disclosed by Dish TV in a regulatory filing, confirming that the petitioner chose to withdraw the case during a hearing at the Mumbai bench of the tribunal. A detailed order from the bench is still awaited.
The petition, originally filed under Sections 98 to 100 of the Companies Act, 2013, sought to push for an extraordinary general meeting to address governance issues at the company. The case had its roots in a prolonged shareholder tussle dating back to 2021, when Yes Bank, then the largest shareholder, was at odds with the promoter group led by Subhash Chandra over board reconstitution.
JC Flowers had stepped into the picture as an assignee of Yes Bank’s stressed assets, effectively continuing the legal push initiated earlier. The withdrawal now signals a pause, if not a closure, to that chapter of dispute.
While the reasons behind the withdrawal have not been formally detailed, the move reduces immediate legal pressure on Dish TV, which has been navigating both operational and regulatory challenges in recent years.
For now, the focus shifts back to the company’s business fundamentals, even as the legal dust settles, at least temporarily, on one of its more closely watched shareholder battles.
