aidcf appeal: Kerala HC to hear AIDCF’s appeal against disconnection notices by broadcasters on Feb 20

Appearing for AIDCF, senior advocate Jayant Mehta mentioned the matter and sought immediate listing. Other senior advocates Maninder Singh, Mukul Rohatgi, and Amit Sibal opposed Mehta.

When the AIDCF counsel informed the court that the time of 48 hours notice granted by the broadcasters will end today, the judge said that the court has the power to undo any coercive action taken by the broadcasters on Monday.

The AIDCF had filed a fresh plea before the HC on Thursday after leading broadcasters Disney Star, Zee Entertainment, Viacom18, and Culver Max Entertainment (Sony) issued disconnection notices to multi-system operators (MSOs), who are its members.

The broadcasters have issued disconnection notices to Hathway Digital, GTPL, DEN Networks, UCN Cable Network, NXT Digital (a division of Hinduja Global Solutions), and Asianet Digital Network for non-signing of the interconnection agreement as per the new tariff order (NTO) 3.0.

Most of the disconnection notices were issued via email on Wednesday. The AIDCF filed the application as part of its main petition seeking a stay on NTO 3.0, which is slated to come up for hearing on February 22.

In its application, the AIDCF alleged that the broadcasters are arm-twisting the MSOs to implement NTO 3.0 so that the tariff hikes are passed on to consumers even before the high court takes a decision on the writ against the tariff amendments.The federation also said that the broadcasting sector regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has been evasive in its counter-affidavit about the actual price increase for the average consumer.

“However, from the RIO rates disclosed, if implemented, the consumer would have to bear huge burden of thousands of crores of rupees being taken from the pocket of the average subscriber by the broadcaster using the manifestly arbitrary and irrational price increase allowed by TRAI,” said the AIDCF application.

In their disconnection notices, the broadcasters gave two days’ time to the MSOs to sign fresh interconnection agreements based on NTO 3.0 or face disconnection. The broadcasters argued that the MSOs were yet to sign deals based on the new tariff even though NTO 3.0 came into effect on February 1.

Apart from the AIDCF, local cable operators have filed fresh petitions in the high courts of Punjab and Haryana, Calcutta, Karnataka, and Telangana seeking a stay on the implementation of NTO 3.0.

The NTO 3.0 continues to be in operation as none of the courts has granted a stay yet.

Consumer prices are expected to go up Rs 25-50 per month as broadcasters have increased the prices of their bouquets. DTH operators will implement the price hike in multiple stages to cause minimal inconvenience to subscribers.