The Madras High Court on Friday rejected a plea seeking to put stay on implementation of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) March 2017 regulations and tariff order relating to fixation of charges for free and pay channels.
While quashing the interim prayer plea in a petition filed by a cable TV association of Chennai, Justice S Vaidyanathan issued a notice to the TRAI and posted the matter to January 3 for further hearing.
The Chennai Metro Cable TV (CAS) Operators Association, in its plea, sought to quash two notifications on the new regulations issued through media releases on November 19 and December 18 fixing December 29 as the deadline for implementing the tariff order.
It also sought an interim stay on implementation of the regulations vide the impugned press releases.
The TRAI counsel in Madras HC submitted that the matter was already raised before the Supreme Court and the TRAI itself has now extended the deadline for implementation to January 31, instead of December deadline to enable the service providers to ensure a smooth transition of subscribers from old to the new regulatory framework.
The petitioner association submitted that objections were raised by a social activist after the first communication was issued on November 19. It Claimed that TRAI without seeking an opinion and objection on the first release impugned passed the second release.
As per the current frame-work, Consumers can view all channels at a fixed price. But the new system compels the consumers to see only certain channels. “This would affect their fundamental right and curtail rights to see all channels” petition claimed.
The Authority, in March 2017, had notified the new regulatory framework for Broadcasting and Cable services and re-notified it on July 3, 2018, prescribing the implementation schedule.
The Lok Sabha on Thursday was also informed that the new framework of TRAI will give ‘Freedom Of Choice’ and direct control to see what the wish to and to their monthly bill.
Earlier, The Apex Court on October 30 had rejected a plea challenging the new TRAI Frame-work.