NTO 2.0: IBDF withdraws its petition in SC

The Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF) has moved an application before the Supreme Court seeking its permission to withdraw its petitions challenging the New Tariff Order (NTO) 2.0 in the Supreme Court.

The major broadcasters, who had also separately challenged TRAI’s regulatory framework, have supported the IBDF move. As requested by the IBDF, the apex court allowed the withdrawal of the application.

With this, the broadcasters have put their words into action to allow TRAI to revisit the contentious regulatory regime. It is now incumbent upon the TRAI to come out with a forward-looking consultation paper to enable the sector to come out of the mess and cater to the consumers with high-quality content.

The regulator is likely to come up with a consultation paper to analyze the apprehensions of broadcasters with regard to channel pricing.
The apex court’s mandate was to decide the constitutionality of TRAI’s regulations imposing a limit on the price the broadcasters can charge for a bouquet of channels. The court will decide whether the TRAI regulations violate the broadcasters’ right to freedom of expression and their right to engage in free trade.

Industry insiders expect that the protracted legal battle will come to an end soon with the latest development.