Tata Sky, IndiaCast get another 30 days from TDSAT to sign agreement

The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has granted 30 more days to direct to home (DTH) operator Tata Sky and TV18-owned content distributor IndiaCast Media Distribution to enter into a content agreement.

The parties had made a joint prayer before the tribunal for extending the period granted earlier for entering into an agreement.

While the granting more time to the parties, the tribunal asked them to enter into an agreement either on negotiated terms or on RIO terms within a further period of 30 days.

The interim orders passed earlier continue till next date. The matter has been posted under the same head on 22nd January 2019.

This is the second request by the parties seeking more time to enter into a deal. In the previous hearing, the tribunal had granted another 30 days to enter into an agreement.

Tata Sky had moved TDSAT against the disconnection notice issued by IndiaCast.

In its plea, the DTH operator had sought an extension of the agreement whose term had expired on 31 July to be operative for a further period of three months as a matter of right.

On the other hand, IndiaCast had argued that the existing agreement can be extended only when the negotiations are still continuing meaningfully in the opinion of both the parties.

IndiaCast had claimed a right to issue the notice asking the DTH operator to enter into a reference interconnect offer (RIO) based agreement on account of the failure of negotiations.

After hearing the parties, the tribunal had directed the parties to either arrive at a negotiated agreement otherwise they must enter into an RIO based agreement in accordance with the Regulations.

The tribunal had also restrained IndiaCast from enforcing the disconnection notice till the next date.

It is pertinent to note that Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) and Tata Sky had entered into an agreement recently ending a two-month deadlock.