DTH
New DTH guidelines will make the sector competitive: Javadekar
KOLKATA: At the end of last year, the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) announced revised guidelines for direct-to-home (DTH) operators in India. The new DTH policy will make the sector competitive and will have a positive impact on consumers, I&B minister Prakash Javadekar informed the Rajya Sabha on Monday.
The minister mentioned that the guidelines with enhanced period of license with provisions of renewal beyond the initial licence period will ensure continuity and a rationalised licence fee regime. Moreover, the rules will have a positive impact on qualitative and competitive services being extended to the consumers in the long term.
“The changes will facilitate ease of doing business, offer employment opportunities, make the sector competitive with likelihood of new players coming forward to provide DTH services and also provide a rationalised licensing fee regime and enhanced period of licence,” he detailed.
After resolving the long standing impasse on the DTH licence policy, the government announced DTH licences will now be issued for a period of 20 years. Under the new rules, licence fee will be collected quarterly instead of annually.
Changes had been approved for 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the DTH sector which was earlier limited to 49 per cent. The decision had already been taken by the ministry of commerce and industry but the sector could not avail the benefits due to past MIB guidelines.
The cabinet also approved the sharing of infrastructure between DTH operators. Distributors of TV channels will be permitted to share common hardware for their subscriber management system (SMS) and conditional access system (CAS) applications. Javadekar said at the time of announcement that the decision had been taken to create a level playing field.
DTH
TDSAT adjourns Tata Play–Culver Max dispute to 30 March
Row dates to May 2025 after Tata Play dropped 25 Culver Max channels
NEW DELHI: The long-running broadcast carriage dispute between Tata Play and Culver Max Entertainment was on Friday adjourned to 30 March after proceedings before the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal were disrupted by technical difficulties.
The bench, led by chairperson justice Dhirubhai Naranbhai Patel with member Sanjeev Banzal, briefly took up the matter before deferring it. The adjournment was also recorded at the petitioner’s request.
The commercial row dates back to May 2025, when Tata Play dropped 25 Culver Max channels from its direct-to-home packs, citing contractual disagreements. Culver Max alleged the move breached both the interconnection agreement and the regulatory framework laid down by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, prompting it to approach the tribunal.
On 21 May, 2025, Culver Max issued a disconnection notice claiming unpaid subscription dues of Rs 128.42 crore for services up to 31 March, 2025. Tata Play disputed the demand, arguing that the dues were contested and that disconnection would violate regulatory norms.
In an interim order on 27 May, 2025, the tribunal stayed the proposed disconnection, subject to Tata Play depositing Rs 40 crore. The amount was paid on 3 June, ensuring continued carriage of the channels. The tribunal later restrained the broadcaster from disrupting services, recording Tata Play’s submission that channels remained available on an a la carte basis and that only bouquet composition had changed.
Culver Max subsequently sought recall of the interim relief, alleging misstatements by the DTH operator. It placed a statement of accounts before the tribunal, pegging total dues at Rs 124.87 crore, including invoices raised up to October 2025, and claimed more than Rs 63 crore remained unpaid even after adjustments.
Tata Play countered that invoices from June to September 2025 had been settled and that October invoices were not yet due under contractual timelines, characterising remaining differences as routine reconciliation issues.
The tribunal has since allowed Culver Max, formerly known as Sony Pictures Networks India, to withdraw its audit petition after placing the subscriber audit report on record, and dismissed the recall plea.
With Friday’s hearing cut short, the dispute over carriage fees, dues and bouquet structuring will now return to the tribunal on 30 March, prolonging one of the sector’s most closely watched broadcaster–DTH stand-offs.
