Broadcasting Petition No.86 of 2015. Case: Star India Pvt. Ltd. Vs Trustline Broadband Service Pvt. Ltd.. TDSAT (Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal)
| Case Number | Broadcasting Petition No.86 of 2015 |
| Counsel | For Appellant: Mr.Kunal Tandon, Advocate, Mr. Saurabh Srivastava,Advocate, Ms.Shilpa Gupta , Advocate, Ms. Arpika Singhal, Advocate and Mr.Ranjit Singh Sidhu,Advocate |
| Judges | Mr. shiva Kirti Singh, Chairperson and Mr. B.B. Srivastava, Member and Mr. A.K. Bhargava, Member |
| Issue | DAS Interconnect Regulations 2012 - Clause 5(16) |
| Judgement Date | May 26, 2017 |
| Court | TDSAT (Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal) |
Order:
A. K. Bhargava, Member
The Petitioner is a broadcaster who has filed this petition against the respondent multi system operator (MSO) with the following prayers -
"a. Issue a direction to the Respondent to forthwith pay to the Petitioner a sum of Rs. 135,25,051/- plus Rs 21,54,374/- (interest @ 18% per annum as on 17th February, 2015)
-
Issue a direction to the Respondent to pay pendent lite and future interest @ 18% till the date of payment"
After the petition was filed on 20-2-2015, the matter had proceeded on its own pace. The. petitioner's evidence was completed and closed before the learned Advocate Commissioner on 18-10-2016. Thereafter, affidavit of evidence of the respondent was not filed despite many opportunities given to the respondent. Learned council for the respondent sought discharge in the matter and notices were issued in view of non-appearance of the respondent, but there was no appearance on behalf of the respondent or representation either. In view of this; the matter was permitted to proceed ex-parte.
The petitioner, "Star India Private Limited" was part of a joint venture named "Media Pro". The respondent company "Trustline Broadband Services Pvt. Ltd" was formed in February, 2014 with conglomeration of six networks, some of whom had some interconnect agreement with Media Pro. Media Pro later entered into an interconnect agreement dated 31-3-2014 with the respondent "Trustline Broadband Services", effective from 1-02-2014 till 31-3-2014 for a monthly subscription fee of Rs. 32,35,288/- for the area of Jamshedpur, Adityapur, Kandra, Chandel. Thereafter, pursuant to the Amendment dated 10-02-2017 in the Interconnection Regulations by TRAI, the petitioner Star India started entering into Interconnection Agreement for its TV channels on its own.
Media Pro informed the respondent vide letter dated 22-5-2014 that with effect from 1-4-2014, the respondent would have to enter into an agreement with the petitioner (i.e. Star India) and till a new agreement was signed, the petitioner will raise provisional invoice as per the old agreement i.e. 50.39% of the total subscription fee mentioned in the last agreement with Media Pro. Petitioner avers that as per the aforesaid Agreement, the respondent was liable to.pay 50.39% of Rs. 32,35,288 i.e. Rs. 16,30,314/- per month. However, due to oversight, Star India was raising invoices on the respondent at the rate of Rs. 10,10,675/- which was subsequently rectified by issuing...
To continue reading
Request your trial