TDSAT dismisses Tata Sky review petition on licence fee

The broadcast tribunal Telecom Disputes Settlement And Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has dismissed a review petition by Direct-To-Home service provider Tata Sky which said revenues earned from sales of set-top-boxes (STBs) be kept out of the purview of calculating the licence fee.

In its judgement On August 26, 2008 TDSAT had held that sale of STBs would be part of the DTH operator's gross revenue. It also held that dividend income would be excluded.

At present, DTH indutry has to pay around 10 per cent of its gross revenue of a financial year as annual licence fee.

In its petition, Tata Sky contended that since the DTH operators do not manufacture STB and it is not mandatory for customers to purchase STB from them, revenues earned through sale of STBs should not be included while calculating the licence fee.

But a Telecom Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal bench rejected Tata Sky's petition observing that STBs could not be purchased by customers from third parties.

"I do not accept the argument now being raised that STB can be purcahsed from anywhere. STB has to be purchased from the peitioners (Tata Sky) as a part of the connection when a consumer seeks it from them," the tribunal said.