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NEW
DELHI: All applications for operating television channels
or teleports have been given only 30 days from 25 May to furnish
performance bank guarantee (PBG) and the permission fee as
applicable.
An
additional 15 days could be given only under exceptional circumstances,
the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has said.
It
has clarified that no extension or correspondence will be
entertained thereafter and those who fail to submit the PBG
would not be given permission by the Ministry.
Earlier
at the time of issuing the new Uplinking and Downlinking Guidelines
on 5 December last year, the Ministry had said applications
that are at various stages of processing for permission to
operate television channels or teleports will be given a period
of three months to ‘ensure conformity’ to the new
Guidelines.
This
followed a Delhi High Court order which had said time should
be given till 23 March 2012 for those who had applied before
5 December 2011.
Furthermore,
these applicants will have to give an undertaking to abide
by the amended Guidelines, and the applications of those who
fail to ensure compliance within three months will be rejected,
Information and Broadcasting Ministry sources told indiantelevision.com.
Parliament
was recently informed that a total of 681 television channels
were operational in the country in April this year, out of
a total of 825 television channels which had been permitted
by the government as on 19 January this year.
A
total of 116 channels are still within the prescribed limit
of one year for operationalisation under the Uplinking/Downlinking
Guidelines.
The
Ministry has found 37 channels failed to become operational
even after one year of permission. The licence of five of
these has been cancelled, three had requested for extension
of time against notice of cancellation, and 27 TV channels
had sought extension for operationalising their channels and
they have been asked to submit Performance Bank Guarantee.
The permission of two channels has been withdrawn at the request
of the concerned company.
The
teleports have to pay Rs 87,500 per MHz per annum to the Wireless
Planning and Coordination wing of the Communications and Information
Technology Ministry for uplinking TV channels.
The
country had a total of 430 news and current affairs channels
as on 17 November last year including 35 channels of the national
broadcaster, Doordarshan.
The
foreign equity holding including FDI/FII/NRI investments should
not exceed 26 per cent of the paid-up equity of the applicant
company seeking permission for news and current affairs channels.
In the case of teleports which must have a networth of Rs
30 million for the first teleport and Rs 10 million for subsequent
teleports the foreign equity cannot exceed 49 per cent.
As
far as entertainment channels go, the applicant company, irrespective
of its ownership, equity structure or management control,
would be eligible to seek permission. But the entity applying
for permission for downlinking a channel, uplinked from abroad
must be a company registered in India under the Indian Companies
Act 1956, irrespective of its equity structure, foreign ownership
or management control.
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