Acting on a long-pending suggestion made by broadcast regulator TRAI, the government on Friday barred the entry of any government or related departments/entities in broadcasting or distribution businesses, putting a question mark over the functioning of some companies in the country.

“ln view of  (the) recommendations of TRAI, the judgement of the Supreme Court and the legal opinion given by the Ministry of Law and Justice …no central government ministries/departments, State/UT governments and related entities should enter into the business of broadcasting/distribution of broadcasting,” the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said in an advisory.

However, because many government organisations at the federal and State level do broadcast educational programming, such operations will now have to be done through public broadcaster Prasar Bharati that manages Doordarshan and All India Radio.

“Till the engagement with Prasar Bharati gets in place, it needs to be ensured that uninterrupted viewing of such ongoing education channels and other scheduled programmes are carried on smoothly,” MIB clarified.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had made several recommendations on ‘Issues relating to entry of certain entities into broadcasting and distribution activities’ in 2008, 2012 and 2015 where it had dwelt at length on why government organisations should be kept away from the broadcasting or the video distribution business, stating the demand for either a “concurrent or an exclusive power to the States with respect to broadcasting cannot be supported”.

For example, in its recommendations, dated December 28, 2012, TRAI had recommended: “The Central Government ministries and departments, Central Government owned companies, Central Government undertakings, joint ventures of the Central Government and the private sector and Central Government funded entities should not be allowed to enter into the business of broadcasting and/or distribution of TV channels.

“The Authority recommends that State Government departments, State Government owned companies, State Government undertakings, joint ventures of the State Government and the private sector and State Government funded entities should not be allowed to enter into the business of broadcasting and/or distribution of TV channels.”

The Friday MIB advisory, which said the whole switchover exercise will have to be completed by December 31, 2023, pointed out, “ln case ministries of Central Government, State/UT Government and entities related to them are already distributing the broadcasting content, they will be required to extract themselves from the distribution activities.”

This order puts a question mark on the operation of several TV channels and MSO business because of their indirect and direct relationship to the federal or State governments. For instance, the fate of MSO Arasu in Tamil Nadu gets into the grey zone as it is a State government-controlled entity.

Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation Limited was incorporated with an objective to provide high quality cable TV signals to the public at an affordable cost. The service provided by the TACTV Corporation is a welfare step taken by the State Government in the interest of the public and cable TV operators, the Arasu website claims, admitting that the MIB has only granted it provisional registration as an MSO.

Meanwhile, MIB added that as per existing policy guidelines for setting up community radio in India, government universities, colleges, schools, Krishi Vigyan Kendras, Central/State universities, including autonomous bodies and agricultural universities, will continue to be eligible for setting up community radio stations.