Amendments to the Private FM Radio Phase-III policy guidelines

On September 10, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting introduced amendments to the Private FM Radio Phase-III policy guidelines.

The key updates include new reserve prices based on the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s recommendations for the annual fee structure:

1. Reserve price. FM channels to be taken up in uncovered new cities under Batch- II FM Phase-lll, auction: The reserve price shall be the reserve price recommended by TRAI in 2022.
2. Annual fee. For uncovered new cities, under the Batch-III FM Phase-III auction, the private players will be levied a yearly fee of 4% of the gross revenue of its FM radio channel, excluding the GST.
3. Uncovered new cities. The Permission holder in the uncovered new cities in the States of North East i.e., Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura; Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir; and island territories (i.e, Andaman and Nicobar islands and Lakshadweep) under Batch-III FM Phase-III auction will be required to pay an Annual Fee to the Government of India charged @ 2% of Gross Revenue excluding Goods and Service tax for each year for an initial period of three years from the date from which the annual license fee becomes payable and the permission period of 15 years begins.

The Union Cabinet had approved the proposal to conduct the third batch of ascending e-auctions for 730 channels in 234 new cities, with an estimated reserve price of Rs 784.87 crore, under the Private FM Radio Phase-III Policy.
BCS Bureau