| NEW
DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has directed Nimbus Sports
Broadcast Pvt Ltd to reduce the price of its two channels by Rs 21.25 to Rs 37.25.
Nimbus had priced the bouquet at Rs 58.50. The regulator has asked
Nimbus to furnish a report of compliance within seven days from the date of receipt
of this direction. The directive was issued yesterday.
Reacting to the decision,
Nimbus officials have told Indiantelevision.com
that they would be filing a challenge to Trai's directive before the Telecom Disputes
Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT). Trai ordered this in relation
to a complaint filed by Cable Operators' Federation of India, after reviewing
the prices charged by other broadcasters in the the same genre, that is, sport.
In the Cas (Conditional access system) areas, Nimbus will have
to stick to Trai's tariff order where a la carte channels can be priced at a maximum
of Rs 5. A clearly jubilant Cable Operators' Federation of India
president Roop Sharma told Indiantelevision.com
that "this was a great decision as customers were being fleeced."
Trai has held that the decision was based on Clause 3 of its principal
Tariff Order relating to charges, and said that Nimbus' contentions were irrelevant
especially because review of the prices charged by channels of the same genre
showed that these are much less. Nimbus had argued that the prices
for its two channels, Neo Sports and Neo Sports Plus, were higher than those of
other sports channels because their content, composition and structure were different
than such other rival sports channels. Trai in its decision observed
that clause 3 of the principal Tariff Order specifies that the charges, excluding
taxes, payable by (a) Cable subscribers to cable operator; (b) Cable Operators
to multi system operators / broadcasters (including their authorised distribution
agencies); and (c) Multi System operators to broadcasters(including their authorised
distribution agencies) prevalent as on the 26th December 2003 shall be the ceiling
with respect to both free-to-air and pay channels. Tra said that
basically, channels of the same genre are required to charge the same price and
this is a reasonable basic for fixing of prices. But the "thrust of
the arguments of Nimbus does not bring out facts, which would justify a higher
price being charged by them for its said sports channels as compared with other
similar channels of the same genre", Trai observed. The regulator compared
the prices charged by Star Sports and ESPN and said that after due consideration,
it has decided that Nimbus would have to slash the rate by Rs 21.25. Trai
said that the argument that the prices charged were based on composition, content
and structure of a sports channel did not hold ground. "Being business
decisions, these may undergo a change in view of changing perception of the market
and other perceptions, and such changes will not have a bearing on deciding the
similarity of channels, as required under clause 3B, so long as the genre of the
channel does not get altered on account of such changes," Trai said. Trai
observed that even in the case of Nimbus' own two channels, Neo Sports and Neo
Sports Plus, which were different in their respective compositions, contents and
structures "both the said sports channels are having the same price".
"This shows that the broadcaster has not resorted to differential
pricing even where composition, content and structure are different," Trai
observed. Commenting on the Trai directive WWIL senior executive vice president
Arvind Mohanl said, "This is a seminal order and will go a long way to ease
the burden on consumers." | 
