Indian broadcasters looking at crores in unpaid license charges from Nepal, Bangladesh

TV broadcasters in India are due a whole lot of crores in overdue license price funds from distributors in Nepal and Bangladesh, an issue that has been getting worse over the past yr, two executives with information of the cost points instructed The Hindu. The drawback has been significantly acute in Bangladesh, the place after the ouster of former President Sheikh Hasina, TV distributors have stopped paying Indian broadcasters the charges they’re due for transmitting their channels.

Many Indian channels are well-liked in Nepal and Bangladesh, a lot in order that broadcasters give distributors in that nation a “clear feed,” a stripped-down dwell broadcast with out Indian advertisements. In Nepal, which has had points in the previous couple of years of withheld funds to telecom firms like Airtel, the dues exceeded ₹100 crore in the previous couple of weeks. Nepalese Prime Minister Okay.P. Sharma Oli is because of go to India in September, and Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri visited Kathmandu on Sunday for a two day official journey. Bangladeshi broadcasters additionally owe over ₹250 crore, one government stated.

The Nepalese embassy and the High Commission of Bangladesh didn’t reply to queries by The Hindu. The Ministry of External Affairs didn’t instantly reply to a question on the dues.

In Airtel’s case in 2023, the telecom firm reduce off its hyperlink to Nepal briefly, earlier than turning it again on in just a few hours, underlining the stakes if funds didn’t come by means of. One government chatting with The Hindu stated that the most important Indian broadcasters are hesitating to do the identical, as broadcasters in each international locations might merely pirate an Indian retail feed, ending any hope of recovering due license charges, and posing huge challenges in reentering the market.

In Nepal, Indian channels have been going through points with the federal government since April 2023, when the nation’s Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MoCIT) gave each broadcaster simply two days to implement an “à la carte” pricing system, virtually an identical to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s New Tariff Order. Unlike the NTO regime, which was carried out — with a lot resistance — after a number of months of consultations, the discover given was so brief that Indian broadcasters solely got here to know of the requirement days after the deadline.

In Bangladesh, Beximcom, the nation’s largest conglomerate with over $1 billion in property, has not obtained remittance clearance from the Bank of Bangladesh to pay Indian broadcasters, and the political scenario within the nation has left diplomats and politicians with little curiosity to cope with the business issues of broadcasters, one government stated.