Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Thursday moved the Supreme Court seeking extension of time to complete the tariff norms of Direct-to-Home (DTH) services, alongside the finalisation of the eventual tariff dispensation for the non-CAS cable distribution sector.
Earlier, the court had given telecom watchdog time till January 15 to complete the exercise to fix DTH tariff.
The bench headed by Justice GS Singhvi postponed the matter till January 22 after Trai senior counsel Harish Salve pointed out that the authority?s application for extension of time to complete exercise for fixing tariff for non-CAS cable TV services is coming up on January 18.
Trai said that extension of time is required ??to complete the tariff regulation exercise in respect of DTH services so that the tariff is determined no later than four weeks from the finalisation of the eventual tariff dispensation for the non-CAS cable distribution sector.??
Justifying its request for extra time, the regulator said the tariff fixation issues require to be considered in the light of the analysis of the entire distribution market including cable services and if it conducted a separate exercise for DTH services, it will be based on an incomplete appreciation of the factors affecting the DTH market.
As the tariff regulation of the DTH and cable TV services are closely linked, TRAI sought extra time so that it can be done in a proper and transparent manner after consulting all the stakeholders.
In its endeavour to make the consultation process relating to tariff for DTH services more comprehensive, Trai submitted that it had issued a supplementary consultation paper on ?Tariff related issues for DTH services? and had invited comments of all the stakeholders up to January 18.
??The tariff fixation exercise for non-CAS cable sector is likely to be concluded by May 31 or within such time as may be allowed by the apex court,?? it said.
