TRAI asks Tamil Nadu cable TV body to drop its legal notice

Following the adoption of a new price structure and the postponement of revised costs by Star India, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Tuesday directed the Tamil Nadu Digital Cable TV Operators Association to dismiss the legal notice filed against it.

In a letter dated January 4, 2021, the sector watchdog wrote to the legal counsel for the Tamil Nadu-based cable TV operators group, saying, "In light of the Trai's letter dated November 10, 2021, M/s Star India Private Limited (broadcaster) has intimated about deferment of all changes made in its revised Reference Interconnect Offer (RIO) filed on October 15, 2021, and added that in view of the foregoing, you are, therefore, advised "to withdraw the legal notice against TRAI.

According to the sources, the state's digital cable TV operators organisation is unlikely to retract the notification it issued on October 18, 2021.

"Our clients are not doubting your (Trai) intentions," the Delhi-based law firm said in a legal notice on behalf of the TV operators group, "but have been shocked and surprised to see the conduct and malafide of the pay channel broadcasters who have wrongly interpreted the New Tariff Order, 2020 and have substantially inflated the prices of the pay channels."