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Govt earns Rs 1.26 bn as licence fee from DTH operators
NEW DELHI: The Government earned Rs 1.26 billion as licence fee from the direct-to-home (DTH) operators during 2009-10, up from Rs 893.81 million a year ago, as their subscriber base and revenues have seen strong growth.
DTH players are required to pay a licence fee equivalent to 10 per cent of their gross revenue.
The licence fee collected in 2007-08 was Rs 345.63 million, but went up in the later years as the number of DTH players increased. The amount paid to the government is fixed from the gross revenues of DTH operators.
These amounts are apart from the service tax for which the Department of Revenue says it does not maintain separate records, and entertainment tax which is a state subject.
Information and Broadcasting Ministry sources said that though a proposal was made for reduction of licence fee, the matter could not progress further because the DTH players insisted on adjusted gross revenue instead of gross revenue. They also wanted some items like the sale of set-top boxes to be kept out of this. The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (Tdsat) had on 28 March this year upheld this demand of DTH operators.
The Government had filed a civil appeal in the Supreme Court against an earlier order of 26 August 2008 in this regard.
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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.
