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Guidelines for revised uplinking policy

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI MARCH 26. The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry today issued guidelines for the revised uplinking policy which has fixed a 26 per cent cap on foreign equity in news and current affairs channels that uplink from India. Though the guidelines become operational with immediate effect, "transitory arrangements'' have been provided to allow channels which do not fit the bill make a "smooth rollover''.

The transitory provision allows content providers/channels — currently using VSAT, RTTS, satellite videophone or similar infrastructure to uplink/point-to-point transfer of content for broadcast purposes — three months to conform to the guidelines.

Though the I&B Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad, refused to answer channel-specific questions and insisted that the policy was "channel-neutral'', Ministry officials said the transitory provision had been included at the eleventh hour to allow Rupert Murdoch's Star TV launch operations from April while it reduces the foreign equity in the company to the stipulated 26 per cent.

The transitory provision and equity cap apart, the guidelines mandate that the applicant company is "registered/incorporated in India under the Companies Act, 1956''.

Also, majority of its Board of Directors, the CEO — "known by any designation'' — or head of the channel and the news editors have to be resident Indians.

The guidelines make it obligatory for the company to take I&B Ministry's permission before changing the foreign share-holding pattern or the CEO/Board of Directors. The company/channel has to intimate the Ministry about foreigners/NRIs employed/engaged by it for over 60 days.

Besides, the company will have to comply with the Programme & Advertising Codes laid down in the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995, and maintain a record of the content uplinked for a period of 90 days.

Channels will have to use a transponder on a satellite in C-Band only and the "same should have been coordinated with INSAT system''.

Last week, the Cabinet decided to change the uplinking policy in view of an application made by the wholly foreign-owned Star TV for uplinking from India following the anticipated termination of its contract with NDTV this month-end.

Though the earlier policy allowed foreign-owned companies to uplink from India, the Government decided to change it in view of Star TV's application as it was the first time a wholly foreign-owned company was trying to enter the business of news and current affairs.Without the transitory clause, Star TV would not have been able to run a 24-hour live channel under the new regime as planned from April 1.

Consequent to this reprieve, the Star News president, Ravina Raj Kohli, issued a statement welcoming the guidelines and said: "Star News will undergo seamless transition to a 24-hour Hindi news service from March 31, 2003, when the contract with our current content supplier comes to an end''.

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