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Consumer body challenges CCI clearance to DTH on interoperability
NEW DELHI: The Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPAT) has admitted a petition challenging the Competition Commission of India‘s clearance to direct-to-home (DTH) operators including Tata Sky and Reliance Big TV of charges of market dominance abuse in the matter of set top boxes (STBs).
The CCI‘s 16-month-old order closing proceedings against the DTH operators over denial of interoperability to customers by changing Conditional Access Module (CAM) cards has been challenged by Consumer Online Foundation (COF).
After hearing counsel A N Haksar, the tribunal listed the matter for 5 September.
CCI had in March 2011 closed the case against DTH operators, saying they have not abused their dominant market position by not allowing interoperability.
In its complaint before the CCI, the COF had alleged that such a practice restricts choice of a DTH customer to enjoy the services of another DTH operator.
Under the present situation, they will have to buy a new STB from the new operator as a customer cannot change CAM cards in its STB.
According to COF, DTH services should be offered on the lines of mobile phone services where a consumer can use services of any telecom operator by changing the SIM card in his/her phone.
The CCI had said that there are techno-economic issues involved in making STBs interoperable. Moreover, the price of a CAM card, which is scarce in the market, is much higher than the price of a STB.
“We see no reason as to why the DTH operators should not give clear choice to subscribers to outright purchase, hire-purchase or rent the STB as mandated under the Direct to Home Broadcasting Services (Standards of Quality of Service and Redressal of Grievances) Regulations, 2007,” said CCI.
“The practice of supplying STB/CAMs by DTH service providers along with the subscription is not due to any tacit agreement or action in concert, but due to limitations of the existing technology and its cost,” the competition regulator added.
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Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
