Amendment In Policy Guidelines for Uplinking/Downlinking of TV channels approved ( Oct 7,2011)
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has two sets of Policy Guidelines for permission/regulation of private satellite TV channels in India. While regulation of foreign TV channels uplinked from abroad and distributed in India for public viewing is governed by "Policy Guidelines for Downlinking of Television channels" notified on 11th November, 2005, private TV channels which are uplinked from India are governed by "Guidelines for Uplinking from India" notified on 2nd December 2005. Uplinking Guidelines also provide for permission and regulation of Teleports. After these Guidelines were notified, there has been an exponential growth of television channels, especially during the last few years. Till 31.08.2011 the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting granted permission to 745 private satellite TV channels out of which 366 TV channels were permitted in the category of 'News and Current Affairs' and 379 in the category of 'Non-News and Current Affairs'.
Cabinet has taken following decisions in this regard:
(i) Net worth criteria for Uplinking of 'Non-News and Current Affairs' channels and Downlinking of foreign channels has been revised from Rs.1.5 crores to Rs. 5 crores for the first channel and Rs. 2.5 crores for each additional channel.
(ii) For uplinking of 'News and Current Affairs' channels the net worth / criteria has been increased from Rs. 3 crores to Rs. 20 crores for the first channel and Rs. 5 crores for each additional channel.
(iii) For Teleports the net worth criteria would be uniform irrespective of channel capacity. The net worth criteria would remain Rs. 3 crores for the first teleport and Rs.1 crore for every additional teleport.
(iv) All TV channels would be required to operationalize their TV channels within a time frame of one year from the date of permission, for which Non-News and current Affairs channels will have to sign a Performance Bank Guarantee (PBG) of Rs.1 crore whereas News and Current Affairs channels will have to give a Performance Bank Guarantee for Rs. 2 crores. In the event of non-operationalisation of the permitted channel within a period of one year, the PBG will be forfeited and permission cancelled.
(v) The period of permission/registration for uplinking/downlinking of channels will be uniform at 10 years.
(vi) One of the persons occupying the top management position i.e., Chairperson or Managing Director or Chief Executive Officer or Chief Operating Officer or Chief Technical Officer or Chief Financial Office in the applicant company should have a minimum of 3 years of prior experience in a Media company, for both News and Non-News channels.
(vii) Proposals of merger, demerger and amalgamation will be allowed under the provisions of Companies Act, after obtaining the permissions of the Ministry of I&B as per procedure.
(viii) Renewal of the permissions of TV channels will be considered for a period of 10 years at a time subject to the condition that the channel should not have been found guilty of violating the terms and conditions of permission including violations of the Programme and Advertisement Code on 5 occasions or more.
(ix) The channels operating in India and uplinked from India but meant only for foreign viewership should be required to ensure compliance of the rules and regulations of the target country for which content is being produced and uplinked.
(x) Permission fee for uplinking/downlinking of TV channels and setting up of teleports would be Rs. 2 lakhs per channel/teleport per annum. Whereas permission fee for downlinking of TV channels uplinked from India would be Rs.5 lakhs per channel per annum. Permission fee for downlinking of TV channels uplinked from abroad would be Rs 15 lakhs per channel per annum. File No: 1501/2/2002-TV(I)(Pt.)
GUIDELINES FOR UPLINKING FROM INDIA
New Delhi
Dated: December 2, 2005.
PREAMBLE
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India notified the
“Guidelines for uplinking from India” in July 2000. This was followed by “Guidelines for
Uplinking of News and Current Affairs TV Channels from India” in March 2003, which were
amended in August 2003, “Guidelines for use of SNG/DSNGs” in May 2003 and addendum
dated 1.4.2005 to the uplinking guidelines. The Government has, on 20th October 2005 further
amended these guidelines. It has now been decided that all these guidelines should be
consolidated into one set of guidelines and notified. Accordingly, in supercession of all
previous guidelines, the Government hereby notifies the following consolidated uplinking
guidelines. These shall come into effect from today the 2nd December 2005 and would be
applicable to existing channels as well.
GENERAL
The applicant seeking permission to set up an uplinking hub/ teleport or uplink a TV
Channel or uplink facility by a News Agency should be a company registered in India under
the Companies Act, 1956.
1. PERMISSION FOR SETTING UP OF UPLINKING HUB/ TELEPORTS.
Eligibility Criteria.
In the applicant company, the foreign equity holding including NRI/OCB/PIO
should not exceed 49%.
The Company should have a minimum Net Worth as prescribed below:
Item Required Net Worth
Teleport for single channel capacity Rs. 1.00 Crore
Teleport for 6 channel capacity Rs. 1.50 Crore
Teleport for 10 channel capacity Rs. 2.50 Crore
Teleport for 15 channel capacity Rs. 3.00 Crore
Period of Permission.
Permission shall be granted for a period of 10 years.
Fee.
The applicant will pay an amount of Rs. Ten thousands as processing fee.
After being held eligible, the applicant company shall pay a permission fee at the rate
of Rs. Five Lakhs per teleport.
Special Conditions/ Obligations.
The company shall uplink only those TV channels which are specifically approved or
permitted by the Ministry of I&B for uplinking from India.
The company shall stop uplinking TV channels whenever permission/approval to such
a channel is withdrawn by the Ministry of I&B.
The applicant company shall abide by the general terms and conditions laid down in
Para 5 below.
2. PERMISSION FOR UPLINKING A NON-NEWS & CURRENT AFFAIRS
TV CHANNEL.
[Note: For the purpose of these guidelines, a non-News & Current Affairs TV channel
means a channel which does not have any element of news & current Affairs in its
programme content.]
.1 Eligibility Criteria.
The applicant company, irrespective of its ownership, equity structure or management
control, would be eligible to seek permission.
The Company should have a minimum Net Worth as prescribed below:
Item Required Net Worth
Single TV channel Rs. 1.50 Crore
For each additional TV channel Rs. 1.00 Crore
Period of Permission.
Permission shall be granted for a period of 10 years.
Fee.
The applicant will pay an amount of Rs. Ten thousands as processing fee.
After being held eligible, the applicant company shall pay a permission fee at the rate
of Rs. Five Lakhs per channel.
Special Conditions/ Obligations.
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The applicant company shall obtain registration for each channel, in accordance with
the procedure laid down under the Downlinking Guidelines notified by the Ministry of
Information & Broadcasting separately.
The applicant company permitted to uplink shall operationalize the channel within a
period of one year from the date the permission is granted by the Ministry of I&B;
failing which the permission is liable to be withdrawn, after affording an opportunity
of being heard.
The sports channels/sports rights management companies having TV broadcasting
rights shall with immediate effect share their feed with Prasar Bharati for national and
international sporting events of national importance, held in India or aboard, for
terrestrial transmission and DTH broadcasting (free-to-air) under the following
conditions:
i) The events of national importance shall be determined by the Ministry
of Information & Broadcasting in consultation with Ministry of Sports
& Youth Affairs, Prasar Bharati and the concerned sports
channels/sports rights management companies. In case of cricket
events, these shall include all matches featuring India and the semifinals
and finals of international competitions.
ii) The above conditions shall apply to all future events including those
covered by existing contracts of broadcasting rights. However, in the
case of cricket events whose broadcasting rights have been obtained by
sports channels/right management companies prior to the issue of the
notification in the matter the rights holders will be obliged to share the
feed for all matches featuring India and finals of international
competitions.
iii) Prasar Bharati shall transmit the feed, free to air, on its terrestrial
channel and carried through the terrestrial network and/or the
satellite/DTH mode.
iv) The marketing of the events’ rights (terrestrial as well as satellite/DTH)
will be decided through mutual negotiations between Prasar Bharati
and the rights holder. The marketing rights should go to the party
which offers to maximize the revenue.
v) Revenue sharing formula of 75:25 in favour of rights holders without
any minimum guarantee/opportunity cost, should be applied.
In the event of any dispute, the matter shall be referred to an arbitrator to be
appointed by Secretary, Ministry of Law and Justice out of the approved panel of
arbitrators.
The applicant company shall abide by the general terms and conditions laid down in
para 5 below.
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3. PERMISSION FOR UPLINKING A NEWS & CURRENT AFFAIRS TV
CHANNEL.
[Note: For the purpose of these guidelines, a News & Current Affairs TV channel
means a channel which has any element of news & current Affairs in its programme
content.]
3.1 Eligibility Criteria.
3.1.1 Foreign Equity holding including FDI/FII/NRI investments should not exceed 26%
of the Paid Up equity of the applicant company. However, the entity making portfolio
investment in the form of FII/NRIs deposits shall not be “persons acting in
concert” with FDI investors, as defined in Securities and Exchange Board of India
(Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 1997. The Company,
permitted to uplink the channel shall certify the continued compliance of this
requirement through its Company Secretary, at the end of each financial year.
3.1.2 Permission will be granted only in cases where equity held by the largest Indian
shareholder is at least 51% of the total equity, excluding the equity held by Public
Sector Banks and Public Financial Institutions as defined in Section 4A of the
Companies Act, 1956, in the New Entity. The term largest Indian shareholder, used in
this clause, will include any or a combination of the following:
(1) In the case of an individual shareholder,
(a) The individual shareholder.
(b) A relative of the shareholder within the meaning of Section 6 of the
Companies Act, 1956.
(c) A company/ group of companies in which the individual shareholder/HUF to
which he belongs has management and controlling interest.
(2) In the case of an Indian company,
(a) The Indian company
(b) A group of Indian companies under the same management and
ownership control.
For the purpose of this Clause, “Indian company” shall be a company, which
must have a resident Indian or a relative as defined under Section 6 of the Companies
Act, 1956/ HUF, either singly or in combination holding at least 51% of the shares.
Provided that in case of a combination of all or any of the entities mentioned
in Sub-Clause (1) and (2) above, each of the parties shall have entered into a legally
binding agreement to act as a single unit in managing the matters of the applicant
company.
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While calculating foreign equity of the applicant company, the foreign holding
component, if any, in the equity of the Indian shareholder companies of the applicant
company will be duly reckoned on pro-rata basis, so as to arrive at the total foreign
holding in the applicant company. However, the indirect FII equity in a company as
on 31st March of the year would be taken for the purposes of pro-rata reckoning of
foreign holdings.
3.1.4 The company shall make full disclosure, at the time of application, of Shareholders
Agreements, Loan Agreements and such other Agreements that are finalized or are
proposed to be entered into. Any subsequent changes in these would be disclosed to
the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, within 15 days of any changes, having a
bearing on the foregoing Agreements.
It will be obligatory on the part of the company to intimate the Ministry of
Information & Broadcasting, the changes in Foreign Direct Investment in the
company, within 15 days of such change. While effecting changes in the shareholding
patterns, it shall ensure its continued compliance to Clause 3.1.1 and 3.1.2 above.
The applicant shall be required to intimate the names and details of all persons, not
being resident Indians, who are proposed to be inducted in the Board of Directors of
the company.
The company shall be liable to intimate the names and details of any foreigners/ NRIs
to be employed/ engaged in the company either as Consultants (or in any other
capacity) for more than 60 days in a year, or, as regular employees.
At least 3/4th of the Directors on the Board of Directors of the company and all key
Executives and Editorial staff shall be resident Indians.
The representation on the Board of Directors of the company shall as far as possible
be proportionate to the shareholding.
All appointments of key personnel (executive and editorial) shall be made by the
applicant company without any reference on from any other company, Indian or
foreign.
The applicant company must have complete management control, operational
independence and control over its resources and assets and must have adequate
financial strength for running a news and current affairs TV channel.
CEO of the applicant company, known by any designation, and/ or Head of the
channel, shall be a resident Indian.
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The Company should have a minimum Net Worth as prescribed below:
Item Required Net Worth
Single TV channel Rs. 3.00 Crore
For each additional TV channel Rs. 2.00 Crore
Period of Permission.
Permission shall be granted for a period of 10 years.
Fee.
The applicant will pay an amount of Rs. Ten thousands as processing fee.
After being held eligible, the applicant company shall pay a permission fee at the rate
of Rs. Five Lakhs per channel.
Special Conditions/ Obligations.
Permission for usage of facilities/infrastructure for live news/footage collection and
transmission, irrespective of the technology used, will be given to only those channels
which are uplinked from India. To ensure immediate compliance of this policy in
respect of permissions/licences given/to be given for utilization of
VSAT/RTTS/Satellite Video Phone and similar other infrastructure, which lends itself
for use in uplinking/point to point transfer of content for broadcast purposes, separate
guidelines will be issued by the Ministry of Communications & Information
Technology.
The channel/company will ensure that its news and current affairs content provider(s),
if any, are accredited with the Press Information Bureau. Such accredited content
provider(s) only can use equipment/platform for collection/transmission of
news/footage.
The company/channel should ensure that it uses equipment, which is duly authorized
and permitted by the competent authority, or its content provider(s), if any, use
equipment duly authorized by the competent authority,
It will be obligatory on the part of the company to intimate the Ministry of
Information & Broadcasting, the changes in Foreign Direct Investment in the
company, within 15 days of such change. While effecting changes in the shareholding
patterns, it shall ensure its continued compliance to Clause 3.1.1 and 3.1.2 above.
The company/channel will be liable to intimate to the Ministry of Information &
Broadcasting the details of any foreigners/NRIs employed/engaged by it for a period
exceeding 60(sixty) days.
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6 The applicant company shall abide by the general terms and conditions laid down in
Para 5 below as well as Paras 2.4.1 to 2.4.3 above.
4. PERMISSION FOR UPLINKING BY INDIAN NEWS AGENCY.
Eligibility criteria.
The applicant company should be accredited by Press Information Bureau (PIB).
The applicant company should be 100% owned by Indian, with Indian Management
Control.
. Period of Permission.
Period of permission shall be as per WPC license.
Special Conditions/ Obligations.
The company shall use uplinking for news-gathering and its further distribution to
other news agencies/broadcasters only.
4.3.2 The company shall not uplink TV programmes/channels for direct reception by
public.
4.3.3 The applicant company shall abide by the general terms and conditions laid down in
Para 5 below.
5. GENERAL TERMS & CONDITIONS.
The company can uplink either in C or Ku Band. Uplinking in C Band would be
permitted both to Indian as well as foreign satellites. However, proposals envisaging
use of Indian satellites will be accorded preferential treatment. On the other hand,
uplinking in Ku Band would be permitted through Indian satellite only, subject to the
condition that this permission is not used to run/ operate DTH service without
proper license, to which separate guidelines apply. Satellite to be used should have
been coordinated with Insat System.
5.2 The company shall comply with the Programme & Advertising Codes, as laid down in
the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and the Rules framed there
under.
5.3 The company shall keep record of the content uplinked for a period of 90 days and
produce the same before any agency of the Government, as and when required.
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5.4 The company shall furnish such information, as may be required by the Ministry of
Information & Broadcasting, from time to time.
5.5 The company/channel shall provide for the necessary monitoring facility, at its own
cost, for monitoring of programmes or content by the representatives of the Ministry
of Information & Broadcasting or any other Government agency as and when so
required.
5.6 The company shall permit the Government agencies to inspect the facilities as and
when required.
5.7 The company shall comply with the terms and conditions of Wireless Operational
Licence to be issued by the WPC Wing, Ministry of Communications & IT.
5.8 The Company shall ensure its continued eligibility as applicable through out the period
of permission and adhere to all the terms and conditions of the permission, failing
which the company shall be liable for penalty as specified in Para 8 below.
5.9 The Government of India, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting shall have the right
to suspend the permission of the company for a specified period in public interest or
in the interest of national security to prevent its misuse. The company shall
immediately comply with any directives issued in this regard.
5.10 It will be obligatory on the part of the company to take prior permission from the
Ministry of Information & Broadcasting before effecting any change in the CEO/
Board of Directors.
6. PERMISSION FOR USE OF SNG/DSNG EQUIPMENTS IN C BAND AND
KU BAND.
6.1 The use of SNG/DSNG would be permitted to News and Current Affairs channels
uplinked from India for live news/footage collection and point-to-point transmission.
6.2 PIB accredited content provider(s) if any, to the permitted News and Current Affairs
channel(s) can use SNG/DSNG for collection/transmission of news/footage.
6.3 Entertainment channels who are uplinking from their own teleport, can use
SNG/DSNG for their approved channels, for transfer of video feeds to the permitted
teleport.
6.4 All Foreign channels, permitted entertainment channels uplinked from India and
companies/individuals not covered in 6.1, 6.2 and 6.3 as above will be required to seek
temporary uplinking permission for using SNG/DSNG for any live coverage/footage
collection and transmission on case to case basis.
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6.5 Only permitted teleport operators and Doordarshan may offer/hire out SNG/DSNG
equipments/infrastructures to other broadcasters who are permitted to uplink from
India.
6.6 The uplinking should be carried in encrypted mode, so as to be receivable only in closed
user group. The signal should only be down linked at the permitted teleport of the
licensee and uplinked for broadcasting through permitted satellite through that teleport
only.
6.7 Each company/channel desiring to use SNG/DSNG would have to apply to Ministry of
I&B and get permission before doing the same.
6.8 Uplinking from SNG/DSNG should be in SCPC mode only (only single feed can be
uplinked from the SNG/DSNG at a time).
6.9 The channel would also give an undertaking that the feed collected through SNG/DSNG
shall conform to Programme and Advertisement Codes.
6.10 The use of SNG/DSNG would be permitted only in those areas/regions/states which
are not specifically prohibited by MHA.
6.11 The company would submit the purchase documents of SNG/DSNG terminals and
inform Ministry of I&B about placement of these terminals at the various locations.
6.12 Period of Permission:
(a) For teleport owners – co-terminus with teleport licence.
(b) For permitted News and Current Affairs channels – for the period of the Channel
permission.
(c) For content providers to permitted channels - for the period of the channel
permission.
(d) For other broadcasters having temporary uplinking permission – for periods as
specified in the temporary uplinking permission.
6.13 The company permitted to use SNG/DSNG shall apply to WPC for frequency
authorization of WPC. It should be renewed yearly in time and a copy should be
submitted to this Ministry by the company every year.
6.14 The permitted company shall maintain a daily record of the location and the events
which have been covered and uplinked by SNG/DSNG terminals and down linked at
their main satellite earth station and produce the same before the licensing authority or
its authorized representative, which will include officers of Ministry of Home Affairs
and Ministry of I&B, as and when required.
6.15 The permitted company shall not enter defence installations.
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6.16 The equipment should not be taken in the areas cordoned off from security point of
view.
6.17 The company/channel desiring to use SNG/DSNG would give an undertaking that it
would be used for live newsgathering and footage collection for captive use only.
6.18 Violations of any of the aforementioned terms and conditions would lead to
revocation/cancellation of the permission to use the SNG/DSNG.
6.19 The permitting authority may modify the conditions laid down or incorporate new
conditions, as and when considered necessary.
6.20 SNG/DSNG in Ku Band will not be used for DTH operation, directly or indirectly.
Any such use would lead to the termination of licence/permission.
6.21 Uplinking Dish used for SNG/DSNG operation in Ku Band shall not exceed 2
meters.
7. PERMISSION FOR TEMPORARY UPLINKING.
7.1 The use of all equipment/platforms for collection of footage/news by channels
uplinked from outside for specific programme(s)/event(s) of temporary duration will
be entertained on recommendation from the PIB and permitted on a case to case
basis, in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs and other
Ministries/Departments concerned.
7.2 Foreign news channels/ agencies may be granted permission up to one year at a time
for temporary uplinking from time to time through a pre-designated teleport, subject
to the following conditions:
(a) The applicant is accredited with the Press Information Bureau, Government of India.
(b) The applicant undertakes to conform to the Programme and Advertisement Codes.
(c) The applicant has a binding agreement with the relevant teleport for the period of
permission.
(d) The applicant pays a processing fee of Rs. 10,000/- and temporary permission fee of
Rs. 50,000/- per year.
The news/footage so uplinked shall be primarily for the usage abroad by the
foreign news agency/ channel and shall not be broadcast in India without downlinking
permission and registration of the channel.
8. OFFENCES AND PENALTIES.
8.1 In the event of a channel/teleport/SNG/DSNG found to have been/ being used for
transmitting/ uplinking any objectionable unauthorized content, messages, or
communication inconsistent with public interest or national security or failing to
comply with the directions as per para 5.9 above, the permission granted shall be
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revoked and the company shall be disqualified to hold any such permission for a
period of five years, apart from liability for punishment under other applicable laws.
8.2 Subject to the provisions contained in para 8.1 of these guidelines, in the event of a
permission holder violating any of the terms and conditions of permission, or any
other provisions of the guidelines, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting shall
have the right to impose the following penalties:
8.2.1 In the event of first violation, suspension of the permission of the company and
prohibition of broadcast/ transmission up to a period of 30 days.
8.2.2 In the event of second violation, suspension of the permission of the company and
prohibition of broadcast up to a period of 90 days.
8.2.3 In the event of third violation, revocation of the permission of the company and
prohibition of broadcast up to the remaining period of permission.
8.2.4 In the event of failure of the permission holder to comply with the penalties imposed
within the prescribed time, revocation of permission and prohibition of broadcast for
the remaining period of the permission and disqualification to hold any fresh
permission in future for a period of five years.
8.3 In the event of suspension of permission as mention in Para 5.9 or 8.2 above, the
permission holder shall continue to discharge its obligations under the Grant of
Permission Agreement including the payment of fee.
8.4 In the event of revocation of permission, the fees shall be forfeited.
8.5 All the penalties mentioned above shall be imposed only after giving a written notice
to the permission holder.
9. PROCEDURE FOR OBTAINING PERMISSION.
9.1 The applicant company can apply to the Secretary, Ministry of Information &
Broadcasting, in triplicate, in the prescribed format “Form 1” along with all requisite
documents including a demand draft for an amount equal to processing fee wherever
prescribed, payable at par at New Delhi, in favour of the Pay & Accounts Officer,
Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi.
9.2 On the basis of information furnished in the application form, if the applicant is found
eligible, its application will be sent for security clearance to the Ministry of Home
Affairs and for clearance of satellite use to the Department of Space (wherever
required).
9.3 As soon as these clearances are received, the applicant would be asked to furnish a
demand draft for an amount equal to the processing fee, wherever prescribed, payable
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at New Delhi, in favour of Pay & Accounts Officer, Ministry of Information &
Broadcasting, Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi. Further, the applicant company in respect
of Para 1, 2 or 3 above would be required to sign an agreement titled as “Grant of
Permission Agreement”, in the format “Form 2”, which is being prescribed
separately..
9.4 Thereafter, the Company would be issued a formal permission to enable it to obtain
requisite license/ clearances from the WPC Wing, Ministry of Communications & IT
or approach a teleport service provider in case of TV channels/ uplinking by a Indian
news agency.
9.5 The applicant will pay the licence fee and royalty, as prescribed by WPC Wing from
time to time, annually, for the total amount of spectrum assigned to Hub/Teleport
station, as per norms & rules of the WPC Wing. Besides, the Hub/Teleport station
owner will inform WPC Wing the full technical and operations details of TV channels
proposed to be uplinked through his/her Hub/Teleport in prescribed format. (This
clause is applicable for teleports/ uplinking by a Indian News Agency.)
