TRAI regulation 7 of 2019 · 30 Oct 2019
Official title
The Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Interconnection (Addressable Systems) (Amendment) Regulations, 2019
Official record
Open source pageSummary
Check the official recordThese regulations amend the 2017 Interconnection Regulations for addressable systems. Key changes include mandating that distributors and broadcasters use M/s Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL) or TRAI-empanelled auditors for mandatory annual audits. The amendment introduces a financial disincentive for distributors failing to conduct annual audits, set at Rs 1,000 per day for the first 30 days of default and Rs 2,000 per day thereafter, capped at Rs 2 lakhs. It also revises Schedule III to mandate that CAS and SMS systems must handle activations/deactivations for at least 5% of the subscriber base within 24 hours. Furthermore, requirements for covert fingerprinting and watermarking network logos at the encoder end are now applicable only to equipment deployed after these regulations take effect.
What you must do
Key dates
Who is affected
Thresholds
Exceptions
If you do not comply
TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE GAZETTE OF INDIA, EXTRAORDINARY, PART III, SECTION 4 TELECOM REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA NOTIFICATION THE TELECOMMUNICATION (BROADCASTING AND CABLE) SERVICES INTERCONNECTION (ADDRESSABLE SYSTEMS) (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 2019 (7 of 2019)
New Delhi, 30/10/2019
F. No. 21-6/2019-B&CS.— In exercise of the powers conferred by section 36, read with sub-clauses (ii), (iii) and (iv) of clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 11 of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 (24 of 1997), read with notification of the Central Government, in the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (Department of Telecommunications), No. 39, —
(a) issued, in exercise of the powers conferred upon the Central Government under clause (d) of sub-section (1) of section 11 and proviso to clause (k) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the said Act, and
(b) published under notification No. S.O.44 (E) and 45 (E) dated the 9th January, 2004 in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3,—
the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India hereby makes the following regulations to amend the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Interconnection (Addressable Systems) Regulations, 2017 (1 of 2017), namely: -
(1) These regulations may be called the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Interconnection (Addressable Systems) (Amendment) Regulations, 2019 (7 of 2019). (2) They shall come into force from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.
In regulation 15 of the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Interconnection (Addressable Systems) Regulations, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as the principal regulations) – (a) for first proviso to sub-regulation (1), the following proviso shall be substituted, namely:-
“Provided that the Authority may empanel auditors for the purpose of such audit and it shall be mandatory for every distributor of television channels to cause audit, under this sub-regulation, from M/s Broadcast Engineering Consultants India limited, or any of such empanelled auditors:”;
(b) after sub-regulation (1), the following sub-regulation shall be inserted, namely:-
“(1 A) If any distributor fails to cause audit once in a calendar year of its subscriber management system, conditional access system and other related systems, as specified under sub-regulation (1), it shall, without prejudice to the terms and conditions of its license or permission or registration, or the Act or rules or regulations or order made or direction issued thereunder, be liable to pay, by way of financial disincentive, an amount of rupees one thousand per day for default up to thirty days beyond the due date and an additional amount of rupees two thousand per day in case the default continues beyond thirty days from the due date, as the Authority may, by order, direct:
Provided that the financial disincentive levied by the Authority under this sub-regulation shall in no case exceed rupees two lakhs:
Provided further that no order for payment of any amount by way of financial disincentive shall be made by the Authority unless the distributor, has been given a reasonable opportunity of representation against the contravention of the regulations observed by the Authority.”;
(c) for first proviso to sub-regulation (2), the following proviso shall be substituted, namely:-
“Provided that the Authority may empanel auditors for the purpose of such audit and it shall be mandatory for every broadcaster to cause audit, under this sub-regulation, from M/s Broadcast Engineering Consultants India limited, or any of such empanelled auditors:”
“Schedule III (Refer sub-regulation (6) of the regulation 10 and regulation 15)
Scope and Scheduling of Audit
(A) Scope: The annual Audit caused by Distributor shall include the Audit to validate compliance with this Schedule and the Subscription Audit, as provided for in these regulations. (B) Scheduling: The annual Audit as caused by Distributor under regulation 15 (1) shall be scheduled in such a manner that there is a gap of at-least six months between the audits of two consecutive calendar years. Further, there should not be a gap of more than 18 months between audits of two consecutive calendar years.
Addressable Systems Requirements
(C) Conditional Access System (CAS) and Subscriber Management System (SMS):
