Bombay HC defers NTO 2.0 hearing due to rains; TRAI assures no action will be taken till next hearing

The debate and uncertainty on implementation of NTO 2.0 continues. The NTO (new tariff order) 2.0 hearing by Bombay High Court (HC) has been pushed due to heavy rains yesterday, Thursday, 6 August.

The broadcasters’ filed a petition against The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) after the latter ordered the implementation of the order by 10 August 2020.

The hearing went unheard for the second day on Friday due to paucity of time. The case has been listed before the original bench for Monday or Tuesday.

According to the sources close to the development, the bench did not pass any order on Friday’s hearing, but has listed it before the original bench comprising Justice AA Sayed and Justice Anuja Prabhudesai. However, TRAI has reassured no action will be taken until the matter is presented before the original bench.

While the legal battle is ongoing for a long-time, TRAI citing a regulatory vacuum released a fresh directive on 24 July which irked the broadcasters who are already battling the impact of the pandemic. It ordered broadcasters to publish details including maximum retail price per month of channels and maximum retail price per month of bouquets of channels, the composition of bouquets and also amended reference interconnect offer (RIO) and other on their website. AnimationXpress