The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has terminated the registration of 477 Multi System Operators (MSOs), which run multiple cable television systems, for various violations and non-compliance of rules.
The Ministry, in its order, said one of the terms and conditions of the MSO registration was that MSOs had to comply with the provisions of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act and the rules made thereunder; and would adhere to the other guidelines.
“Failing to do so, the permission granted is liable to be cancelled or suspended. MSOs were also required to submit a list of their subscribers and other details as per the requests made by the Ministry from time to time. Further, according to Regulation 15(1) of the Interconnection Regulations, 2017, it is mandatory for every distributor of channels to conduct an audit of their system once in a calendar year,” said the Ministry.
However, the Ministry observed that as per the information shared by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the MSOs under scrutiny have not conducted audits of their systems for the calendar years 2021 and/or 2022. Also, they were requested to furnish information like seeding date etc. under the Cable Television Networks (Regulations) Act.
Taking into account the non-compliance, the Ministry marked the status of the violating MSOs as “Non-Compliant”. Through the Ministry’s advisory dated March 23, all broadcasters were also advised not to enter into inter-connection agreements with non-compliant MSOs and to notify the non-compliant MSOs with whom they already had inter-connection agreements.
Despite being classified as “Non-Compliant”, the MSOs in question did not make any references to the Ministry for alternation of their status to “Compliant”. Subsequently, show-cause notices dated July 25, was issued to them seeking an explanation for the contraventions mentioned therein. The MSOs were given 15 days to furnish their replies.
“...it was observed that the scheduled MSOs did not provide the requisite clarification or explanation within the stipulated period, therefore, a communication dated August 24, 2023, was issued to these MSOs in which they were asked to furnish the requisite information within a period of 15 days...,” said the order.
However, the MSOs did not provide the required details within the stipulated period. A last opportunity, vide letters dated September 20, was again sent to them, extending the deadline to October 10. As they did not respond or provide the necessary details, their registrations were finally cancelled.
The violating MSOs have been given another opportunity to appeal against the order before the Information & Broadcasting Secretary within 30 days.
