NEW DELHI / MUMBAI: Even as the government awaits the finance ministry's opinion on the issue of FM radio licence fee, the Bombay High Court has refused to stay the encashment of bank guarantee (by the government) of the Mumbai licence holder (Radio Mirchi).

The case was filed in Mumbai by Entertainment Network India Limited, which runs FM radio stations in several cities under the brand name Radio Mirchi. The petition sought to restrain the government from attaching its bank guarantee in the event of non payment of license fees, which in the case of the Mumbai licence of Radio Mirchi became payable on 25 April.
Government officials in Delhi indicated that generally private FM licence holders were given one week's time from the deadline to pay up. In Radio Mirchi Mumbai's case the licence agreement technically came to an end on 18 April.

This one week's extra time generally granted to the licence holder would mean that others could get time up to 6 May.

Government officials also told indiantelevision.com that they do not propose to go ahead and encash any bank guarantee after the Bombay High Court's observations today. "We'd like to combine all such cases and take them to the finance ministry and await its response on the matter," an information and broadcasting ministry official explained.

However, the government made light of Win's threat to go off the air from tomorrow. Pointing out that the I&B ministry was trying to resolve the matter, the ministry official said such posturing by Win was "unwarranted" as it was the FM radio station's wish to close down.

Meanwhile, all private FM players, on condition of anonymity, rue the lack of unity within the community. Publicly, they all swear eternal allegiance to the cause of FM radio in the country.

With the Radio Mirchi petition turned down by the High Court, one of the few flickers of hope for the industry has died. Individually, each player is struggling to find a solution to the impasse or getting ready to shell out the hefty license fee. Win 94.6 has decided to go off the airwaves from 11 pm tomorrow. It is trying to drum up public support for this initiative through announcements on the station today, but among its counterparts in the industry, there is only tacit support. "If only all the players would get together and collectively close down, even if for a short period, it would focus government attention on the issue," says one player.

For now, the Millennium Broadcast backed Win is fighting its lone battle in the manner best known to it. Win resorted to the same strategy in May 2003, when its license fees were due and it refused to pay for over a month. This time, again, it says the closure will be indefinite, till the powers that be, see reason and rationalise the license fee structure or temper it with a revenue sharing model.

Time, or the Election Commission, should tell.