Commencement of TRAI Tariff Order, Interconnection Regulations and Quality of Service Regulations for Broadcasting and Cable Services

As reported in the September 2018 issue of Inter alia, the validity of the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services (Eighth) (Addressable Systems) Tariff Order, 2017 (‘Tariff Order’) and the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Interconnection (Addressable Systems) Regulations, 2017 (‘Interconnection Regulations’) issued by the TRAI on March 3, 3017 had been upheld by the Madras High Court. Consequently, the Tariff Order, the Interconnection Regulations and the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Standards of Quality of Service and Consumer Protection (Addressable Systems) Regulations, 2017 came into effect from July 3, 2018. Subsequently, Star India preferred an appeal before the SC against the Madras High Court judgement arguing, inter alia, that the Tariff Order and the Interconnection Regulations regulated the content of the transmission, which was solely within the ambit of the Copyright Act, 1956 and fell outside the jurisdiction of the TRAI. The SC, by its judgment dated October 30, 2018, upheld the jurisdiction of the TRAI to regulate the content of transmission in light of the larger public interest involved and upheld the validity of the Interconnection Regulations and the Tariff Order in their entirety.