Jayalalithaa writes to Modi for DAS license to Arasu cable - Livemint

Jayalalithaa suspects the non-issuance of the DAS license to TACTV by the previous UPA government was only to facilitate particular private business interests. Photo: HT

Chennai: Tamil Nadu chief minister J.Jayalalithaa in her letter to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged the government to review and issue Digital Addressable System (DAS) to state-owned Arasu Cable.

“ I request you to kindly have this matter reviewed at the earliest and arrange to issue the ‘Digital Addressable System’ license to the Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corp.(TACTV) Ltd without any further loss of time,” said Jayalalithaa. “You would recall that the issue of a DAS License to Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation was one of the issues I had highlighted in the memorandum that I had presented to you on 3 June, 2014.”

“I had also written a detailed letter to the minister of state (Independent charge) for information and broadcasting on 4 June, 2014, on this issue. This is an issue on which I am keenly expecting an early decision from your government in view of the clear legal position and the strong merits of the case,” said the press release.

“This would enable the government of Tamil Nadu to adhere to its commitment to provide inexpensive and quality Cable TV services to the people of Tamil Nadu, particularly the poor and the middle class,” she said.

“I strongly suspect that the non-issuance of the DAS license to TACTV by the previous UPA Government was only to facilitate particular private business interests, as other licenses were issued at the same time,” said the chief minister.

The Madurai Bench of the honourable high court of Madras had also passed orders in a writ petition pending before it, as early as on 6 December 2012, that the process of issue of license to TACTV may go on and the license may also be issued. I had also written to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to direct the ministry of information and broadcasting to issue the DAS license to TACTV.

Despite all these efforts, the Digital Addressable System license is yet to be issued by the ministry. It is learnt that the ministry had constituted an inter ministerial committee (IMC) on 3 January 2013 to look into the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on the licensing issue and the Committee has still not submitted its final report, further said the press release.

As per the provisions of the Cable TV Network (Regulations) Act, 1995, and rules thereof, a person or an association of individuals or a company registered under the Companies Act is entitled to obtain a DAS license. TACTV is fully qualified under the Act to be issued such a license.

TACTV is providing Cable TV services in 31 of the 32 districts of Tamil Nadu since 2 September 2011. In Chennai services were commenced subsequently. As a service provider targeting the middle class and poor customers, TACTV provides a package of 100 channels to subscribers at a cost of Rs.70/- per month, the lowest rate anywhere in the country. Public response has been overwhelming with a rapid ramp up of the subscriber base which has reached nearly 24,000 Local Cable Operators with 65 lakh individual subscribers. This has made TACTV the single largest Multi System Operator in India. The rejuvenation of TACTV has freed the people of Tamil Nadu from the clutches of the erstwhile Multi System Operators who were consistently fleecing customers by charging Rs.150 - 250 per month for a bouquet of just 30 - 70 Channels.