3 non-metro FM players may quit

Vandana Gombar

New Delhi, Jan 4: Out of the 18 non-metro FM stations licenced to private operators, it seems only 12-14 are likely to be operational since Bennett Coleman & Company and Music Broadcast (Ispat-Star) have decided to surrender two licences each while Vertex Broadcasting (Dabur group) is yet to make up its mind on which of the three non-metro licences it should keep.

Vertex has licences for Indore, Bhopal and Vishakapatnam entailing a total licence fee commitment of Rs 1.90 crore. “We will freeze our choice of cities by Saturday,” a senior company official said.

Though there was some confusion about the deadline for payment of licence fee for the non-metro players (whether it was Friday, Saturday or Monday), most operators came forward and paid.
“Bennett Coleman, Music Broadcast, Sun TV have all paid up. Only Vertex is outstanding,” official sources said.

It may be recalled that the government extended the deadline for payment of licence fee and commencement of service for the 19 metro licences by 4-8 months. It had however decided against granting any extension to the non-metro players who stand to forfeit their bank guarantees (equivalent to the first year’s licence fee) if they do no pay up in time.