New Delhi: An association of leading news channels has stoutly opposed the telecom regulator's decision to allow Multi System Operators (MSOs) to collect carriage fees from broadcasters and has asked the Government to review it.
Reacting to the new regulations set by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) said that it is "shocked and dismayed at TRAI's new Notification dated 30.4.12 on digitising cable TV distribution."
"The Notification has legitimised the very practice the NBA had hoped would be ended, i.e. the payment of steep carriage fees by broadcasters," the NBA said in a statement.
TRAI on Monday released new regulations under which MSOs can charge a uniform carriage fee from all Broadcasters.
NBA opposed the decision claiming that the primary purpose of digitisation was to increase the number of channels broadcast.
"The objective was to give consumers greater choice and to eliminate the phenomenon of carriage fees, which were being charged due to capacity constraints," the NBA said.
The statement added that TRAI's new notification had actually legalised the practice of carriage fees and given distributors the freedom to unilaterally set the amount of carriage fees that broadcasters must pay.
"The NBA urges the Government and TRAI to look into this malaise and correct it urgently," it said.
It said that the practice of carriage fees unfairly penalises broadcasters and threatens the very survival of the broadcasting industry.
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