Cabinet approves Revision
in guidelines for providing Direct to Home (DTH) Services in India
Posted On: 23
DEC 2020 4:46PM by PIB Delhi
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi,
has approved the proposal for revision of the guidelines for obtaining license
for providing Direct-To-Home (DTH) broadcasting service in India. The salient
features of the decision are:
- License
for the DTH will be issued for a period of 20 years in place of present 10
years. Further the period of License may be renewed by 10 years at a time.
- License
fee has been revised from 10% of GR to 8% of AGR. AGR will be calculated
by deduction of GST from GR.
- License
Fee will be collected on quarterly basis in lieu of presently annualbasis.
- DTH
operators shall be permitted to operate .to a maximum of 5% of its total
channel carrying capacity as permitted platform
channels. A one-time non-refundable registration fee of
Rs.10,000 per PS channel shall be charged from a DTH operator.
- Sharing of
Infrastructure between DTH operators. DTH operators, willing to share DTH
platform and transport stream of TV channels, on voluntary basis, will be
allowed. Distributors of TV channels will be permitted to share the common
hardware for their Subscriber Management System (SMS) and Conditional
Access System (CAS) applications.
- The cap of
49% FDl in the existing DTH guidelines will be aligned with the extant
Government (DPIIT's) policy on FDl as amended from time to time.
·
vii. The decision will come into effect as per
revised DTH guidelines are issued bythe Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting.
The proposed reduction is intended to align the license fee regime
applicable to Telecom sector and will be prospectively applied. The difference
may also enable DTH service providers to invest for more coverage leading to
increased operations and higher growth and thereby enhanced and regular payment
of License Fee by them. Registration fee for Platform Services is likely to
bring a revenue of approximately Rs. 12 Lakhs. Sharing of infrastructure by the
DTH operators may bring in more efficient use of scarce satellite resources and
reduce the costs borne by the consumers. Adoption of the extant FDI policy will
bring in more foreign investment into the country.
The DTH is operable on pan-India basis. DTH sector is a highly
employment intensive sector. It directly employs DTH operators as well as those
in the call centres besides indirectly employing a sizeable number of
installers at the grass-root level. The amended DTH guidelines, with longer
license period and clarity on renewals, relaxed FDI limits, etc., will ensure
fair degree of stability and new investments in the DTH sector along with
employment opportunities.
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DS
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