The broadcasters in India will be withdrawing the petitions filed against the New Tariff Order (NTO) 2.0 in the Supreme Court. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will soon be coming out with a consultation paper to address the issues faced by the broadcasters and all the concerned stakeholders. The Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF) and its members will be withdrawing the petitions without any conditions. The bodies have already filed applications for withdrawing the petitions with the Supreme Court, reports e4m.
IBDF Takes a Soft Approach Towards TRAI After No Option Left
It is worth noting that IBDF was initially uninterested in withdrawing the petitions until and unless TRAI took an official stance at the Supreme Court. For the unaware, broadcasters and TRAI conducted backroom parleys for ending the issues over NTO 2.0. TRAI had then asked the broadcasters to withdraw the petitions so that it could float a consultation paper for it. But the IBDF was hesitant to do it then. However, after IBDF failed twice to get interim relief from the Supreme Court, it took a soft approach towards TRAI’s recommendation and thought it best to withdraw the cases. The issues around NTO 2.0 are still going and will take some time to get resolved. Back in July 2021, IBDF had gone to the Supreme Court against the orders from the Bombay High Court, which rejected the petitions filed by the broadcasters against TRAI’s NTO 2.0. For now, TRAI has extended the time for the broadcasters to implement the NTO 2.0 from April 1, 2022, to June 2022. The industry might see further delays in the implementation of the new tariff order 2.0 because it will take some time for TRAI to float the consultation paper and read into the problems that persist because of the NTO 2.0 for the broadcasters and industry. The petitions will be withdrawn soon as the broadcasters have already filed for it.
