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In a significant decision, the Union Cabinet on Friday approved recasting the existing “Policy Guidelines for Uplinking and Downlinking of TV channels” thereby changing the eligibility criteria of companies seeking to operate TV channels to ensure that only serious and credible operators are allowed.
The Cabinet amended the existing policy on recommendation of I&B Ministry, in consultations with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), to reflect the fast evolving electronic media landscape and to avoid unnecessary crowded by non-serious players.
The change has been necessitated as till August 31, 2011 745 private satellite TV channels have permission of which 366 are `News and Current Affairs` and 379 `Non-News and Current Affairs` channel.
Under the amended policy net worth criteria for Uplinking of `Non-News and Current Affairs` channels and Downlinking of foreign channels has been revised from Rs.1.5 crores to Rs. 5 crores for the first channel and Rs. 2.5 crores for each additional channel.
For uplinking of `News and Current Affairs` channels the net worth / criteria has been increased from Rs. 3 crores to Rs. 20 crores for the first channel and Rs. 5 crores for each additional channel.For Teleports the net worth criteria would be uniform-- at Rs 3 crore for first teleport and Rs one crore for every additional teleport-- irrespective of channel capacity.
All TV channels would be required to operationalize within one year from the date of permission, for which Non-News and current Affairs channels will have to sign a Performance Bank Guarantee (PBG) of Rs.1 crore whereas News and Current Affairs channels will have to give a Performance Bank Guarantee for Rs. 2 crores. In the event of non-operationalisation of the permitted channel within a period of one year, the PBG will be forfeited and permission cancelled.
The period of permission/registration for uplinking/downlinking of channels will be uniform at 10 years. Renewal of the permissions will be considered for a period of 10 years at a time subject to the condition that the channel should not have been found guilty of violating the terms and conditions of permission including violations of the Programme and Advertisement Code on 5 occasions or more.
Proposals of merger, demerger and amalgamation will be allowed under the provisions of Companies Act, after obtaining the permissions of the Ministry. The channels operating in India and uplinked from the country but meant only for foreign viewers should be required to ensure compliance of the rules and regulations of the target country.
Under the new policy one of the persons occupying the top management position i.e., Chairperson or Managing Director or Chief Executive Officer or Chief Operating Officer or Chief Technical Officer or Chief Financial Office in the applicant company should have a minimum of 3 years of prior experience in a Media company, for both News and Non-News channels.
The Cabinet amended the existing policy on recommendation of I&B Ministry, in consultations with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), to reflect the fast evolving electronic media landscape and to avoid unnecessary crowded by non-serious players.
The change has been necessitated as till August 31, 2011 745 private satellite TV channels have permission of which 366 are `News and Current Affairs` and 379 `Non-News and Current Affairs` channel.
Under the amended policy net worth criteria for Uplinking of `Non-News and Current Affairs` channels and Downlinking of foreign channels has been revised from Rs.1.5 crores to Rs. 5 crores for the first channel and Rs. 2.5 crores for each additional channel.
For uplinking of `News and Current Affairs` channels the net worth / criteria has been increased from Rs. 3 crores to Rs. 20 crores for the first channel and Rs. 5 crores for each additional channel.For Teleports the net worth criteria would be uniform-- at Rs 3 crore for first teleport and Rs one crore for every additional teleport-- irrespective of channel capacity.
All TV channels would be required to operationalize within one year from the date of permission, for which Non-News and current Affairs channels will have to sign a Performance Bank Guarantee (PBG) of Rs.1 crore whereas News and Current Affairs channels will have to give a Performance Bank Guarantee for Rs. 2 crores. In the event of non-operationalisation of the permitted channel within a period of one year, the PBG will be forfeited and permission cancelled.
The period of permission/registration for uplinking/downlinking of channels will be uniform at 10 years. Renewal of the permissions will be considered for a period of 10 years at a time subject to the condition that the channel should not have been found guilty of violating the terms and conditions of permission including violations of the Programme and Advertisement Code on 5 occasions or more.
Proposals of merger, demerger and amalgamation will be allowed under the provisions of Companies Act, after obtaining the permissions of the Ministry. The channels operating in India and uplinked from the country but meant only for foreign viewers should be required to ensure compliance of the rules and regulations of the target country.
Under the new policy one of the persons occupying the top management position i.e., Chairperson or Managing Director or Chief Executive Officer or Chief Operating Officer or Chief Technical Officer or Chief Financial Office in the applicant company should have a minimum of 3 years of prior experience in a Media company, for both News and Non-News channels.
