IBF stand on amendments in NTO 1.0 & 2.0 rubbish, says TRAI Chairman

TRAI Chairman RS Sharma has rubbished IBF’s (Indian Broadcasting Foundation) claims that amendments in the NTO 1.0 and NTO 2.0 will severely impact broadcasters’ interests and viability of the pay TV industry.

Sharma said that TRAI has taken the right steps in the interests of the audience and industry and no one should be compelled to watch channels they don’t want to see. “Our own data points that 90 per cent of the people watch only about 50 channels out of the 800-900 channels in the country,” said Sharma as he added that as compared to television, OTT platforms allow much more freedom to watch content and one of the reasons for the audience shifting away to OTT platforms.

“So, it cannot be attributed to provisions of the NTO 2.0 or NTO 1.0, which are not against the interests of the industry or unreasonable. TRAI has taken the right steps in the interests of the audience and industry. No one should be compelled to watch channels they don’t want to see,” said Sharma affirmed in a live conversation with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now, during the Visionary Talk Series held by the public policy and governance analysis platform.

The TRAI Chairman was responding to a question on IBF’s statement, where it has raised concerns that amendments in the NTO 1.0 and NTO 2.0 will severely impact the ability of broadcasters to compete with other unregulated platforms and adversely impact viabilityof the pay TV industry. It also says that many channels have had to close down resulting in job losses.

Refraining from commenting further as the matter is sub judice in court, the regulatory authority chairman, however, said, “IBF’s statement is rubbish and only to bring fear in the minds of people.”

“What right do you have? You have approached the court. There is a rule of law and regulation. The Hon’ble Court will decide on the issue. Are you fighting the battle of legality or of perception of the public? This is not fair. There is a law which can be challenged on an appropriate forum and that challenge has been done. We should wait for the decision of the Hon’ble Court and accordingly go about it. Creating baseless, unmindful fears in the minds of people does not serve any purpose,” Sharma maintained.