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Govt to file civil appeal against Tdsat order on DTH licence fee
NEW DELHI: The government is in the process of filing a civil appeal against the order of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (Tdsat) which applied the principle of adjusted gross revenue for determination of annual licence fee by direct-to-home (DTH) operators.
“The government is readying to file against the Tdsat order,” Information and Broadcasting Ministry sources told Indiantelevision.com.
An appeal is already pending in the Supreme Court against an earlier order in this regard on 26 August 2008. The latest order came on 28 May this year.
Incidentally, the DTH operators want the licence fee to be reduced, which they feel is seriously damaging their profitability. The sector is steeped in losses amid strong subscriber growth due to stiff competition among the six private DTH operators and low cable TV ARPUs (average revenue per user).
I&B sources said the government received Rs 1.262 billion for the year 2009-10 as licence fee as against Rs 893 million in 2008-09 and Rs 345 million in 2007-08.
The fee is presently based on the gross revenue – that is, the revenue earned from the sale of hardware such as set-top box (STB) and by way of charging carriage fee. This is defined in Article three of the Schedule of the DTH Licence Agreement.
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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.
