Bengaluru: A local court on Wednesday ordered local cable operators (LCOs) not to blackout TV channels on Thursday which they had planned in protest against the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) new tariff regime to be rolled out from February 1.
A day ahead of the scheduled blackout, the second Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge, responding to a plaint, observed, “Blackout initiated by the defendant (LCO) will affect nearly 60 lakh users of conventional TV cable in the state.”
The court passed interim, ex-parte temporary injunction against LCOs "restraining them, their agents, henchmen and representatives, from conducting blockout of relay on Thursday".
The court further posted the next hearing of the case to February 23.
Following TRAI's new regulations directing the DTH and cable operators to allow users to choose channels and pay for only selected ones has angered cable operators. While TRAI had directed the DTH and cable operators to display the new tariff rates, LCOs had said that the TRAI’s decision is regressive and is against the interest of LCOs and subscribers.
To protest this, the LCOs had decided to black out channels on Thursday between 6 am and 10 pm.
