IBF moves Delhi HC against Trai’s interconnect agreement clauses

MUMBAI: The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), the representative body of the television broadcasters in India, has moved the Delhi High Court against the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (Trai) regulations on interconnect agreements.
The new regulations were issued on September 4 and were to be effective after 120 days — that is from January 2.

Accepting the petition, a bench of chief justice DN Patel and justice C Hari Shankar issued notice to the regulator, seeking its stand on the matter and adjourned the case till February 14.

The IBF has challenged certain clauses in the revised regulations, contending that those were beyond the power, authority and jurisdiction of the regulator. These regulations demand broadcasters to disclose the details of their commercial deals with cable and DTH players to the authority, including individual agreements like marketing and placement, agreements on advertisement slots and extended credit facility.

The broadcasters have argued that Trai was seeking to expand the meaning of the expressions “interconnection” and “interconnection agreements” by demanding disclosure of agreements for placement, marketing and/or other commercial agreements of any nature whatsoever that might have been entered into between broadcasters and distribution platform operators.

The petition also notes that all commercial agreements between a broadcaster and a distributor of a television channel, which do not relate to the technical and commercial arrangement under which they connect their equipment and network to provide broadcasting services to subscribers, would fall outside the scope of the term “interconnection agreements”.

Additionally, the petition, a copy of which was seen by ET, adds that all the commercial freedoms/rights available to any party under the provisions of the Contract Act are also squarely available and applicable in the case of any commercial entity engaged in providing broadcasting services.

“Trai has neither been permitted nor empowered, in any manner whatsoever by the provisions and scheme of the TRAI Act, 1997, to interfere with/impinge upon all other commercial rights and freedom which every broadcaster would possess in terms of the provisions and scheme of the Contract Act,” IBF has noted.