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DELHI: The Indian government has turned down a request from the Indian Broadcasting
Foundation (IBF) to extend the 180-day deadline for fulfilling newly-formulated
downlinking norms by broadcasting companies.
In a letter to the information and broadcasting ministry, the IBF,
an apex body of TV companies operating in India, had sought two months
extension on the deadline since the downlink application form had
been put out by the ministry on its website around 25h January 2006.
The government had given all TV companies a 180-day period from 11
November 2005 (when the guidelines were formulated and announced)
to fulfill all conditions listed in the downlink policy to get landing
rights in India.
The Indian government’s downlink policy
has been a subject of debate in the broadcast industry with some players and industry
bodies like the Hong Kong-based Casbaa terming the conditions harsh that will
affect various business models of companies concerned. Amongst the many
conditions, the most important one being that all TV channels beaming into India
will have to register themselves with the government/designated authority and
establish a permanent establishment here irrespective of the fact whether they
are uplinking from India or outside. Establishment of permanent establishment
in India is aimed at making TV companies, managing channels uplinked out of India,
answerable to Indian laws. This would also result in a higher outflow of money
as taxes to be paid in India.
In the past, there have been instances when the Indian arm of foreign
broadcasting companies have pleaded before disputes tribunal that
they were not governed by Indian laws as they are mere advertising
concessionaries undertaking marketing activities.
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