NEW DELHI: Existing operators of Phase II FM Radio wanting to migrate to Phase III have been asked to deposit 25 per cent of the non-refundable one-time entry fee (NOTMF) by 5 October.

Accepting a demand by Phase II FM operators for extension of time, the Government said that the balance will have to be paid by 15 October instead of the previous deadline of 1 October. 

However, the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry made it clear that the option of migration only applied to Phase II operators and not Phase I operators.

It also said that the migration fee had been fixed according to the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India of 20 February this year.

As was reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, each channel in Mumbai, which falls under the ‘A’ plus category will have to pay Rs 36.69 crore to the Ministry, while each channel from category ‘D’ city - Aizawl will have to shell out Rs 0.12 crore.

This means that from Mumbai, the Ministry will receive a total of approximately Rs 256.83 crore, considering there are seven stations- Radio City, Red FM, Fever FM, Big FM, Radio One, Radio Mirchi and Oye FM.

The second highest pay-out will come from New Delhi, which will pay Rs 33.33 crore per channel, which means that all the stations together will contribute about Rs 266.64 crore.