TV broadcasters in India are due tons of of crores in overdue license price funds from distributors in Nepal and Bangladesh, an issue that has been getting worse over the past yr, two executives with data of the fee points advised The Hindu. The downside has been significantly acute in Bangladesh, the place after the ouster of former President Sheikh Hasina, TV distributors have stopped paying Indian broadcasters the fees they’re due for transmitting their channels.
Many Indian channels are widespread in Nepal and Bangladesh, a lot in order that broadcasters give distributors in that nation a “clean feed,” a stripped-down stay broadcast with out Indian adverts. In Nepal, which has had points in the previous few years of withheld funds to telecom firms like Airtel, the dues exceeded ₹100 crore in the previous few weeks. Nepalese Prime Minister Okay.P. Sharma Oli is because of go to India in September, and Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri visited Kathmandu on Sunday for a two day official journey. Bangladeshi broadcasters additionally owe over ₹250 crore, one government mentioned.
The Nepalese embassy and the High Commission of Bangladesh didn’t reply to queries by The Hindu. The Ministry of External Affairs didn’t instantly reply to a question on the dues.
In Airtel’s case in 2023, the telecom firm lower off its hyperlink to Nepal briefly, earlier than turning it again on in a couple of hours, underlining the stakes if funds didn’t come by. One government talking to The Hindu mentioned that the most important Indian broadcasters are hesitating to do the identical, as broadcasters in each international locations may merely pirate an Indian retail feed, ending any hope of recovering due license fees, and posing monumental challenges in reentering the market.
In Nepal, Indian channels have been dealing with points with the federal government since April 2023, when the nation’s Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MoCIT) gave each broadcaster simply two days to implement an “à la carte” pricing system, virtually similar to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s New Tariff Order. Unlike the NTO regime, which was applied — with a lot resistance — after a number of months of consultations, the discover given was so brief that Indian broadcasters solely got here to know of the requirement days after the deadline.
In Bangladesh, Beximcom, the nation’s largest conglomerate with over $1 billion in property, has not acquired remittance clearance from the Bank of Bangladesh to pay Indian broadcasters, and the political state of affairs in the nation has left diplomats and politicians with little curiosity to take care of the business considerations of broadcasters, one government mentioned.
