Dish TV gets in-principle approval for DTH license from I&B Ministry for 20 years

Leading Direct-to-Home (DTH) player, Dish TV on Thursday said that its DTH license has been renewed by the Information & Broadcasting Ministry for a period of 20 years, subject to fulfillment of the various requirements, in accordance with the revised guidelines for the Direct-to-Home sector.

In a BSE filing, Dish TV stated that it has got “the in-principle approval of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting for the grant of provisional license with effect from April 1, 2021”, for 20 years for providing DTH services in the country.

The company will need to enter into an agreement with the Ministry, obtain and provide necessary clearances and the bank guarantee according to the revised DTH guidelines notified by the government.

In December, the Cabinet had approved the long-pending revisions to the licensing guidelines under which it decided to grant DTH licenses for a period of 20 years with an auto renewal clause of ten years. In the past DTH licenses were granted for ten years.

As per the revised guidelines, the DTH players will now have to pay a license fee of 8 per cent of the adjusted gross revenues which will be calculated after deduction of GST and gross revenues. Earlier, DTH players were paying a license fee of 10 per cent of gross revenues.

Existing DTH operators need to submit a bank guarantee equivalent to, “license Fee for two quarters and other dues not otherwise securitised,” according to the guidelines. The Hindu Business Line