MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court today heard the arguments of the broadcasters in their case against the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for the New Tariff Order   or NTO 2.0. The bench will hear pleas from the lawyers of TRAI tomorrow.

In the previous hearing held yesterday, the court asked TRAI to take instructions on deferment of NTO 2.0 as they did for the 2017 regime before the Madras High Court.

The petitioners are against the ‘impugned provisions’ from the new price regime which was implemented last year. At the beginning of 2020, the industry watchdog modified certain provisions (described as impugned provisions) of the new price regime which were implemented last year. TRAI prescribed twin conditions on pricing; the sum of the a-la-carte rates of the pay channels (MRP) forming part of a bouquet shall in no case exceed one-and-a-half times the rate of the bouquet of which such pay channels are a part.

Recently, TRAI asked broadcasters and distribution platform operators (DPOs) to take necessary steps to ensure a smooth rollout of the amended new tariff order from 1 March. Both broadcasters and DPOs had been directed to publish the required information on their website to provide consumers sufficient time to exercise their choice of channels and bouquets before the implementation.