Delhi HC quashes TV9 Network pleas against TDSAT's a-la-carte order

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court, on Thursday, quashed petitions filed by TV9 Network challenging the interim orders by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) allowing TV9 channels to be offered as a-la-carte offerings rather than bundling them in bouquets. 

The order granted DPOs (Distribution Platform Operators) the capacity to remove the channels of the Associated Broadcasting Company Pvt. Ltd. from their bouquet offerings and convert them into an a-la-carte offering. 

With the petitions dismissed by the Delhi HC, subscribers can now select and pay for TV9 channels on a standalone basis. In contrast to this, being part of a bouquet offering ensured that TV9 channels were getting a wider viewership. But now, on an a-la-carte basis, TV9 channels may experience a slump in the total number of viewers. 

The ruling by the Delhi HC is the latest development in the tussle between MSOs (Multiple System Operators) and TV9. 

The tussle began when, in June 2024, post the Andhra Pradesh elections, several news channels, which included TV9, were taken off from the bouquet bundling and were shifted to the a-la-carte system. 

TV9 approached TDSAT seeking respite. With the regulatory body on a summer break, TV9 also filed a plea in the Delhi HC. Both the court and the tribunal brought back TV9 to the bouquet citing that no notices were served to the channels before this migration. But the respite was temporary. 

In November 2024, MSOs issued a migration notice seeking TV9’s removal from the bouquet. TV9 again knocked on TDSAT’s doors contesting the move. The network based its contention on the Channel Placement Agreement between TV9 and the MSOs which guaranteed its channels’ inclusion in all bouquets. 

TV9’s woes aggravated when in February this year, TDSAT ruled in the favour of MSOs based on the following grounds:

• Regulation 3(4) of the Interconnection Regulations, 2017 prohibits broadcasters from demanding that their channels be included in specific bouquets.

• MSOs have the right to alter bouquets under Regulation 11 of the Quality of Service (QoS) Regulations, 2017, provided they give 15 days’ notice to subscribers.

The tribunal noted that the agreement TV9 cited in its contention only ensured LCN allocation. No explicit mandate mentioned bouquet inclusion. 

The petition that was dismissed on Thursday challenged this ruling by the TDSAT. The Delhi HC stated that it is “not inclined to interfere with the impugned order.” The Court noted, “The impugned orders are interlocutory in nature and necessarily subject to the final outcome of the petitions filed by the petitioner. In the circumstances, this Court finds no merit in the present petitions; the same are, consequently, dismissed.”