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indiantelevision.com Team
NEW DELHI: All applications for operating television channels or teleports have been given only 30 days from 25 May to furnish performance bank guarantee (PBG) and the permission fee as applicable.
An additional 15 days could be given only under exceptional circumstances, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has said.
It has clarified that no extension or correspondence will be entertained thereafter and those who fail to submit the PBG would not be given permission by the Ministry.
Earlier at the time of issuing the new Uplinking and Downlinking Guidelines on 5 December last year, the Ministry had said applications that are at various stages of processing for permission to operate television channels or teleports will be given a period of three months to ?ensure conformity? to the new Guidelines.
This followed a Delhi High Court order which had said time should be given till 23 March 2012 for those who had applied before 5 December 2011.
Furthermore, these applicants will have to give an undertaking to abide by the amended Guidelines, and the applications of those who fail to ensure compliance within three months will be rejected, Information and Broadcasting Ministry sources told indiantelevision.com.
Parliament was recently informed that a total of 681 television channels were operational in the country in April this year, out of a total of 825 television channels which had been permitted by the government as on 19 January this year.
A total of 116 channels are still within the prescribed limit of one year for operationalisation under the Uplinking/Downlinking Guidelines.
The Ministry has found 37 channels failed to become operational even after one year of permission. The licence of five of these has been cancelled, three had requested for extension of time against notice of cancellation, and 27 TV channels had sought extension for operationalising their channels and they have been asked to submit Performance Bank Guarantee. The permission of two channels has been withdrawn at the request of the concerned company.
The teleports have to pay Rs 87,500 per MHz per annum to the Wireless Planning and Coordination wing of the Communications and Information Technology Ministry for uplinking TV channels.
The country had a total of 430 news and current affairs channels as on 17 November last year including 35 channels of the national broadcaster, Doordarshan.
The foreign equity holding including FDI/FII/NRI investments should not exceed 26 per cent of the paid-up equity of the applicant company seeking permission for news and current affairs channels. In the case of teleports which must have a networth of Rs 30 million for the first teleport and Rs 10 million for subsequent teleports the foreign equity cannot exceed 49 per cent.
As far as entertainment channels go, the applicant company, irrespective of its ownership, equity structure or management control, would be eligible to seek permission. But the entity applying for permission for downlinking a channel, uplinked from abroad must be a company registered in India under the Indian Companies Act 1956, irrespective of its equity structure, foreign ownership or management control.
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