India’s broadcast and telecom regulator, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), yesterday issued an order to video distribution platform operators or DPOS to furnish performance monitoring reports (PMRs) on a monthly and quarterly basis for broadcasting services.

The TRAI advisory, issued under section 12 of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997, pertains to DTH operators, MSOs, headend-in-the-sky (HITS) services and Internet Protocol Television operators.

The regulator said its order of July 24, 2008 mandated DTH operators to submit quarterly performance monitoring reports. Subsequently, in June 2019, it revised the formats and extended the reporting requirement to MSOs and HITS operators.

“In view of the amendments notified in the regulatory framework, including the Tariff Order, Interconnection Regulations and Quality of Service Regulations, TRAI has now updated the reporting formats. These formats have been annexed to the present order to submit reports by all DPOs,” the regulator said in a statement posted on its website.

Accordingly, all the DPOs are required to furnish to TRAI monthly PMRS within ten days from the end of each month and quarterly reports in the prescribed format within 15 days from the end of each quarter.

TRAI clarified that the furnishing of quarterly reports shall be optional for DPOs whose active subscriber base, as on the last day of the preceding financial year, does not exceed 30,000.

The reporting framework is aimed at ensuring effective monitoring of compliance, promoting transparency, protecting consumer interest and facilitating the orderly growth of the broadcasting and cable TV services, TRAI added.