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LCOs say taxes have to be paid by MSOs under DAS
NEW DELHI: Organisations of cable operators in Delhi have expressed surprise at reports that the Delhi Government is attempting to charge some local cable operators with evading taxes.
The local cable operators (LCOs) say that all the set top boxes are being imported by the multi-system operators (MSOs) and the exact number is also available with these MSOs who file their records with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). The action of Delhi Government is therefore misplaced, the LCOs say.
Cable Operators Federation of India president Roop Sharma said it was for the importer of the MSO to pay VAT or other taxes and this did not fall in the realm of the LCO.
Under the Digital Addressable System (DAS), even the entertainment tax has to be paid by the MSO who generates the bill, and the LCO does not come into the picture. Prior to digitisation, the LCOs generated the billing for the consumers, Sharma added.
She stressed that the LCOs had supported digitisation as they were consistently being accused of under-reporting, and wanted to ensure transparency.
Earlier reports had said that the Delhi government had alleged that LCOs had been evading taxes by concealing the number of connections.
The Department of Excise and Entertainment Tax had issued notices to nearly 1,000 of 2,200 operators in the city warning them of cancellation of licences.
The process is likely to take two to three months, according to officials. According to 2011 census, Delhi has 3.341 million households with 88 per cent TV penetration, which implies that about 2.9 million households have TV connections.
It is understood that the government has collected nearly Rs 1.21 billion against a target of Rs 670 million, of which Rs 300 million has been collected from cable operators. This collection last year was nearly Rs 330 million.
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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.
