The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has received 55 responses to the consultation paper on audit-related provisions of the Interconnection Regulations, 2017, and the Digital Addressable Systems Audit Manual. The industry appears divided over the removal of Clause 15.1 of the Interconnection Regulations 2017, which mandates television channel distributors to have their systems audited annually.

Broadcasters claim that 85 percent of DPOs have not conducted audits in the last four years, resulting in a loss of revenue for the public treasury. With divided industry voices and absence of robust primary data on subscribers and revenue generation, TRAI‘s route to prescribe robust regulatory framework is likely to face hurdles affecting growth of the broadcasting sector, The Storyboard18 reported.

TRAI had issued the consultation paper on August 9 seeking responses from stakeholders until September 6 and counter comments until September 20. The stakeholders responding to TRAI include IBDF, AIDCF, DEN Network, GTPL Hathway, Dish TV, SITI Networks, TATA Play, Airtel, SP Chopra, Piyush Mishra & Co, KR Sriram & Co, Vishwam Cable Network, Uday Infosys, and other private cable network operators in the country.

In its response to TRAI, only the Indian Broadcasting & Digital Foundation (IBDF) advocated for the removal of regulation 15 (1) under the Interconnection Regulations, 2017, and suggested that broadcasters should have the primary right to audit. This aligns with the broadcasters’ interest in making changes to the audit system, as subscriber under-reporting by DPOs during audits leads to financial losses for them.