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DAS tariff order stands as is, Trai clarifies
NEW DELHI: A day after the Information and Broadcasting Ministry announced that it is extending the digitisation deadline in the four metros by four months to 1 November, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) today issued a clarification that all its regulations and tariff orders have come into effect from the date of their publication in the official Gazette.
The broadcast sector regulator said that the date of coming into effect of any regulation or order issued by it could only be “as prescribed as Trai”. The Tariff order (Amendment) has come into effect on 30 April and the Quality of Service Regulations, Consumer Complaint Redressal Regulations and Interconnection Regulation (amendment) came into effect on 14 May.
Extending the deadline, the I&B Ministry had, on 20 June, said that “All the Trai regulations for DAS will come into effect from 1 November 2012.”
Trai also stated that the “Regulations and Tariff order has to come into effect prior to the timelines prescribed by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry for timely and effective implementation of DAS.”
In its order yesterday, the I&B Ministry said Regulations on Tariff & Interconnection were issued by Trai only on 30 April 2012, instead of being issued in January 2012, as expected. The Quality of Service Regulations and the Consumer Complaint Redressal Regulations were issued on 14 May 2012 by Trai.
According to these regulations, every Broadcaster and MSO is required to publish its Reference Interconnect Offers (RIOs) within 30 days of issue of the Regulation. Another 30 days are required for negotiations between Broadcasters and MSOs. Thereafter, the MSOs and LCOs arrive at agreements which enable the consumers to have a clear indication of the terms and conditions for installing set top boxes and the prices of channels on an a-la-carte as well as on a bouquet basis.
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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.
