AIDCF condemns Prasar Bharati's OTT platform plans

The All India Digital Cable Federation (AIDCF) has lodged a complaint with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, accusing Prasar Bharati of violating the country's uplinking and downlinking guidelines. The industry body, representing multiple system operators (MSOs) like Hathway, DEN Network, and Hinduja Global Solutions, argues that Prasar Bharati's invitation to private satellite TV channels to join its upcoming OTT platform is unfair and detrimental to the existing distribution ecosystem.

In a letter addressed to Ministry Secretary Sanjay Jaju, the AIDCF highlighted that Prasar Bharati's move contradicts clause 11(3)(f) of the Uplinking & Downlinking guidelines, which stipulate that satellite TV channels can only provide their signals to licensed service providers like MSOs, DTH services, and internet protocol television providers.

The AIDCF also accused broadcasters of misinterpreting existing regulations, claiming that Prasar Bharati is exempt from TRAI regulations and the Cable TV Act. The industry body asserts that satellite TV channels cannot be part of Prasar Bharati's OTT platform and can only provide their signals to registered distribution platform operators (DPOs).

Furthermore, the AIDCF raised concerns about the growing number of unregulated streaming applications, which may escape regulatory oversight due to the lack of specific guidelines. The industry body urged the Ministry to intervene and ensure that these platforms are subject to appropriate regulations.

In response to the AIDCF's criticism, Prasar Bharati's Content Sourcing Policy, released on August 9, indicated that the pubcaster may explore the possibility of on-boarding linear satellite channels and FAST channels to its OTT platform. However, the AIDCF argues that allowing private broadcasters to join the platform would severely impact the business of distribution platform operators and urged the Ministry to direct Prasar Bharati to withdraw its office memo.