THE CABLE TELEVISION NETWORKS (REGULATION) AMENDMENT

THE CABLE TELEVISION NETWORKS (REGULATION) AMENDMENT
BILL, 2002

a

BILL

further to amend the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995.

Be it enacted by Parliament in the Fifty-third Year of the Republic of India as follows:—

1. Short title.-This Act may be called the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Act, 2002.

2. Insertion of new section 4A.-In the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 (7 of 1995) (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act), after section 4, the following section shall be inserted, namely:—

‘4A. Transmission of programmes through addressable system, etc.-(1) Where the Central Government is satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest to do so, it may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make it obligatory for every cable operator to transmit or retransmit programme of any pay channel through an addressable system with effect from such date as may be specified in the notification and different dates may be specified for different States, cities, towns or areas, as the case may be.

(2) If the Central Government is satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest so to do, it may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify one or more free-to-air channels to be included in the package of channels forming basic service tier and any or more such channels may be specified, in the notification, genre-wise for providing a programme mix of entertainment, information, education and such other programmes.

(3) The Central Government may specify in the notification referred to in sub-section (2), the number of free-to-air channels to be included in the package of channels forming basic service tier for the purposes of that sub-section and different numbers may be specified for different States, cities, towns or areas, as the case may be.

(4) If the Central Government is satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest so to do, it may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify the maximum amount which a cable operator may demand from the subscriber for receiving the programmes transmitted in the basic service tier provided by such cable operator.

(5) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (4), the Central Government may, for the purposes of that sub-section, specify in the notification referred to in that sub-section different maximum amounts for different States, cities, towns or areas, as the case may be.

(6) Notwithstanding anything contained in this section, programmes of basic service tier shall be receivable by any subscriber on the receiver set of a type existing immediately before the commencement of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Act, 2002 without any addressable system attached with such receiver set in any manner.

(7) Every cable operator shall publicise, in the prescribed manner, to the subs-cribers the subscription rates and the periodic intervals at which such subscriptions are payable for receiving each pay channel provided by such cable operator.

(8) The cable operator shall not require any subscriber to have a receiver set of a particular type to receive signals of cable television network:

Provided that the subscriber shall use an addressable system to be attached to his receiver set for receiving programmes transmitted on pay channel.

(9) Every cable operator shall submit a report to the Central Government in the prescribed form and manner containing the information regarding —

(i) the number of total subscribers;

(ii) subscription rates;

(iii) number of subscribers receiving programmes transmitted in basic service tier or particular programme or set of programmes transmitted on pay channel,

in respect of cable services provided by such cable operator through a cable television network, and such report shall be submitted periodically at such intervals as may be prescribed and shall also contain the rate of amount, if any, payable by the cable operator to any broadcaster.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this section,—

(a) “addressable system” means an electronic device or more than one electronic devices put in an integrated system through which signals of cable television network can be sent in encrypted or unencrypted form, which can be decoded by the device or devices at the premises of the subscriber within the limits of authorisation made, on the choice and request of such subscriber, by the cable operator to the subscriber;

(b) “basic service tier” means a package of free-to-air channels provided by a cable operator, for a single price to the subscribers of the area in which his cable television network is providing service and such channels are receivable for viewing by the subscribers on the receiver set of a type existing immediately before the commencement of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Act, 2002 without any addressable system attached to such receiver set in any manner;

(d) “encrypted”, in respect of a signal of cable television network, means the changing of such signal in a systematic way so that the signal would be unintelligible without a suitable receiving equipment and the expression “unencrypted” shall be construed accordingly;

(e) “free-to-air channel”, in respect of a cable television network, means a channel, the reception of which would not require the use of any addressable system to be attached with the receiver set of a subscriber;

(f) “pay channel”, in respect of a cable television network, means a channel the reception of which by the subscriber would require the use of an addressable system to be attached to his receiver set.’.

3. Amendment of section 9.-In section 9 of the principal Act, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:—

“Provided that the equipment required for the purposes of section 4A shall be installed by cable operator in his cable television network within six months from the date, specified in the notification issued under sub-section (1) of that section, in accordance with the provisions of the said Act for said purposes.”.

4. Amendment of section 11.-In section 11 of the principal Act, in sub-section (1), for the word and figure “sections 3,”, the word, figures and letter “section 3, 4A,” shall be substituted.

5. Amendment of section 16.-Section 16 of the principal Act shall be numbered as sub-section (1) thereof and after sub-section (1) as so numbered, the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely:—

“(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), the contravention of section 4A shall be a cognizable offence under this section.”.

6. Amendment of section 22.-In section 22 of the principal Act, in sub-section (2), after clause (a), the following clauses shall be inserted, namely:—

“(aa) the manner of publicising the subscription rates and the periodical intervals at which such subscriptions are payable under sub-section (7) of section 4A;

(aaa) the form and manner of submitting report under sub-section (9) of section 4A and the interval at which such report shall be submitted periodically under that sub-section;”.

STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS

The Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”) was enacted with a view to regulate the operation of cable television networks in the country so as to bring uniformity in their operations and to avoid undesirable programmes from being made available to the viewers as well as to enable the optimal exploitation of this technology which has the potential of making available to the subscribers a vast pool of information and entertainment.

2. The Government has been monitoring the implementation of the Act and has been taking corrective measures as and when considered necessary. Amendments were made in the Act in the year, 2000, vide the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Act, 2000. In the recent months, there has been a great public outcry against frequent and arbitrary hike in the cable subscription charges. The subscription rates are being fixed arbitrarily by broadcasters and cable service providers in almost an area specific monopolistic distribution system and the subscriber has no choice to ask and pay for the channels he wishes to view. At present, there is no legal or administrative instrument by which the Government could intervene and regulate the subscription charges or ask the cable service providers to transmit/retransmit television signals through any addressable system which would enable consumers to pay for only those channels which they wish to view. Further, there is no reliable record of actual viewership leading to under-reporting of the number of subscribers by the cable service providers, Multi Service Operators (MSOs) and broadcasters, which, in turn, is also affecting revenues due to the Government. The public demand for Government intervention is such that it needs to be addressed on a priority basis. Besides mandating the viewing of pay channels through an addressable system, the Government would notify from time to time and place to place, the subscription of the basic tier of free-to-air channels, since the primary objective is to ensure that every subscriber receives at least a minimum number of free-to-air channels at a reasonable cost.

3. In view of the above, it is proposed to amend the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 so as to provide for —

(i) empowering the Government to mandate through notification, in a phased manner, installation of addressable systems for viewing pay channels;

(ii) "free-to-air" channels in the areas thus notified, to continue to be received by the subscribers in the existing receiver sets without having to go through the addressable systems;

(iii) a provision that the subscriber would not to be required to change the receiving set irrespective of the channels that he wishes to receive and to provide that he would be free to view the channels from amongst those offered by the cable service providers;

(iv) the flexibility for adoption of technological advancements and up-gradation in the addressable systems and to provide that the technical standards and perfor-mance parameters of the systems would be laid down by the Bureau of Indian Stan-dards, from time to time;

(v) the Government to prescribe, from time to time, the maximum amount to be paid by the subscriber to the cable service provider for the “basic service tier” consisting of the bouquet of notified “free-to-air” channels and to determine the number of channels to be included in this “tier” and the maximum cost for the same in different States/cities/areas of the country, from time to time;

(vi) effective enforcement of the amendments, violations of which would constitute a cognizable offence; and

(vii) other consequential amendments in the Act.

4. The proposed amendments would enable the Government to take steps for protec-ting the interest of the consumers, as and when considered necessary.

5. The Bill seeks to achieve the above objects.

SUSHMA SWARAJ.

New Delhi;

The 9th May, 2002.

MEMORANDUM REGARDING DELEGATED LEGISLATION

Clause 6 of the Bill seeks to amend section 22 of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 to empower the Central Government to make rules by inserting new clauses (aa) and (aaa) in sub-section (2) of that section. The proposed clauses (aa) and (aaa) respectively empower the Central Government to make rules to provide for the manner of publicising the subscription rates and the periodical intervals at which such subscriptions would be payable under sub-section (7) of the proposed section 4A, and to provide for the form and manner of submitting report under sub-section (9) of proposed section 4A as well as the intervals at which such reports shall be submitted periodically under that sub-section.

2. The delegation of legislative power under the afore-mentioned provisions relates to matters of procedure. Hence the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character.

ANNEXURE

Extracts from the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995

(7 of 1995)

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9. No cable operator shall, on and from the date of the expiry of a period of three years from the date of the establishment and publication of the Indian Standard by the Bureau of Indian Standards in accordance with the provisions of the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986, use any equipment in his cable television network unless such equipment conforms to the said Indian Standard.

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CHAPTER III

Seizure and confiscation of certain equipment

11. (1) If any authorised officer has reason to believe that the provisions of sections 3, 5, 6 or 8 have been or are being contravened by any cable operator, he may seize the equipment being used by such cable operator for operating the cable television network.

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CHAPTER IV

Offences and penalties

16. Whoever contravenes any of the provisions of this Act shall be punishable,—

(a) for the first offence, with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees or with both;

(b) for every subsequent offence, with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years and with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees.

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22. (1) * * * * *

(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:—

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