NTO 2.0: Kerala HC relief to AIDCF in LCN for perpetuity regulation

Kerala High Court has grated relief to All India Digital Cable Federation (AIDCF), the apex body of Multi-System Operators (MSOs) in India, in its order wherein it set aside regulation 18 (4) – LCN for perpetuity. However, the High Court upheld the other regulations of TRAI’s NTO (new tariff order) 2.0.

In its order, the Kerala HC noted that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has misconstrued placement as interconnection, therefore Register of Interconnect regulation is rejected.

The AIDCF had filed a writ petition, wherein it had sought stay the regulations pertaining to Register of Interconnection Agreements, capping of carriage fee for SD channels at Rs 4 lakh and for HD channels at Rs 8 lakh, limiting the target market for MSOs to a state or a Union Territory, and considering 5% as the threshold for discontinuing a TV channel.

Barring Register of Interconnection Agreements, all the other regulations were upheld by the Kerala High Court.