In what could be music to their ears, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) yesterday suggested that private FM radio operators should be allowed to broadcast news and current affairs shows, which has been a long-pending demand, but subject to certain conditions.

“Private FM Radio operators should be allowed to broadcast news and current affairs programs, limited to 10 minutes in each clock hour. The program code of conduct as applicable to All India Radio for news content may also be applied to Private FM radio channels,” the broadcast and telecom regulator said yesterday.

Making recommendations on ‘Issues Related to FM Radio Broadcasting’, TRAI also added, among other things, that any inbuilt app or mechanism to receive FM radio reception in mobile handsets should not be tampered with, apart from suggesting a formula for calculating annual licence fee.

TRAI said that in order to discuss various issues related to FM radio broadcasting, referred to it by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, it held a meeting with representatives of FM radio ops’ industry body and collated their concerns and views, including the fact that private FM radio channels should be allowed to broadcast independent news bulletins.

The salient features of the recommendations are as follows:

# The annual license fee of a FM radio channel should be de-linked from Non-Refundable One Time Entry Fee .

# The license fee should be calculated as 4 percent of the gross revenue (GR) of the FM radio channel during the respective financial year. GST should be excluded from GR.

# The government may take appropriate measures to provide relief to the FM radio operators to address challenges posed due to COVID-19 pandemic.

# Private FM radio operators should be allowed to broadcast news and current affairs programs, limited to 10 minutes in each clock hour. The program code of conduct as applicable to All India Radio for news content may also be applied to private radio channels.

# Functions or features pertaining to FM radio should remain enabled and activated on all mobile handsets having the necessary hardware. Built-in FM radio receivers in mobile handsets must not be subjected to any form of disablement or deactivation.

# The Ministry of Electronics & IT should explore a committee, headed by a senior officer of joint secretary or above level, to oversee and monitor the compliance by mobile phone manufacturers (or importers). The panel should include key stakeholders such as MIB, AROI, MAlT and ICEA.

# An online grievance redressal portal should be provided for submitting information or complaints in case of any non-compliance regarding enablement of FM radio functionality in such mobile handsets that have the necessary functionality for FM receivers.