MUMBAI: The ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) will come out with a new policy regarding sale of slots on Doordarshan’s free direct to home (DTH) Free Dish in a month’s.
The submission was made by Prasar Bharati before the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT).
In April, the public broadcaster had told the TDSAT that the new policy for DD Free Dish will be finalised in a few weeks.
“Learned counsel for the respondent submits that relevant policy may be finalized by the concerned Ministry within a month or so,” the tribunal said in its brief order.
The matter has been posted under the same head on 20 July. Interim protection granted to broadcasters to carry their channels on pro-rata basis will continue until further orders.
The Prasar Bharati board had met on 14 May to take a decision on formulating a strategy for allowing the sale of vacant slots on DD Free Dish.
However, the board did not take a decision rather it decided to apprise the MIB about the pros and cons of discontinuing the slot sale policy. The I&B ministry will take a final decision on the matter.
Former I&B minister Smriti Irani was against auctioning Free Dish slots to private broadcasters. Irani’s contention was that the private broadcasters benefitted from Free Dish at the expense of DD.
This will be the first major task at hand for the newly appointed I&B minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore. He was earlier MoS in the I&B ministry.
Cinema 24×7 had moved TDSAT in September 2017 against DD’s decision to call-off slot auction without coming up with an alternative plan to allow existing channels to continue on Free Dish. Subsequently, other broadcasters whose contracts had ended or were about to end also impleaded themselves in the matter.
The broadcasters have argued that DD can allow channels to continue on Free Dish on pro-rata basis. They also contended that the DD’s decision amounts to discrimination as it has earlier granted continuity to channels on pro-rata basis.
After hearing all the parties, the tribunal came up with an interim arrangement under which channels whose contract has ended or others similarly situated as them should be allowed continuity on pro-rata basis if they need continuity because of non-holding of the e-auction and have applied or applied for the same.
It had also stated that the pubcaster will be entitled to charge on pro-rata basis either on the basis of the highest bid amount or the reserved price whichever is higher. The highest bid amount would mean the highest bid in that category in the preceding year.
The arrangement will come to end as soon the Central Government declares its new general policy and take steps to fill up the slots in accordance with such policy. It is clarified that it will not be open for any petitioner or other operators to claim any right to continue on the basis of such interim arrangement.
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