Nearly a month has passed since Indian broadcasters like Star, Zee, Sony and Viacom18, suspended distribution of their channels in Nepal due to unpaid subscription fees by the distributors in the country. Around 72 channels of Indian broadcasters have been off the air since August 1.
Indian broadcasters discontinued their feed as they were not being paid for their services by the channel distributors in Nepal for almost two years. As a result, instead of collecting subscription fees, the broadcasters are now struggling to protect their intellectual property rights as distributors in Nepal resort to pirate Indian television channels in that country.
In a news report that appeared in The Kathmandu Post on August 12, Nepal’s Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MOCIT) acknowledged that local channel distributors had not paid Indian broadcasters for a year and a half, leading to the suspension of channel distribution.
However, before the suspension of the distribution of Indian channels in Nepal, the seven Nepalese channel distributors collected advance payments from customers, prompting consumer rights activists to demand refunds.
In a conflicting account, the channel distributors accuse MOCIT of failing to provide foreign exchange facilities, while the Ministry asserts that no distributors have submitted applications for this service.
As distributors blame the government’s reluctance to grant remittance approvals for the transfer of subscription fees, the foreign broadcasters (mostly Indian broadcasters) are now in a financial bind and have raised concerns with various authorities including MOCIT in Nepal and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) and Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in India, and the Indian embassy in Kathmandu.
However, grievances remain unresolved as per industry sources and reports.
Sources familiar with the matter told Storyboard18 that Nepal’s distribution platform operators (cable and DTH) have been accumulating significant subscription fee due to foreign broadcasters, primarily Indian, for up to 24 months.
The same has resulted in substantial losses for broadcasters, worth around Rs 1 billion, as per sources. Despite broadcasters’ constant reminders and grievances calls to the Ministries, both in Nepal and in India, the non-resolution of the stand-off has resulted in broadcasters disconnecting their signals starting this month.
According to an industry source, the fallout has driven Nepalese platforms to engage in widespread piracy of Indian channels, mainly exploiting satellite/DTH feeds meant for neighboring states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Oddly enough, the suspension of distribution of Indian channels in Nepal and the distribution of pirated Indian channels is contrary to the law introduced in Nepal in 2019.
As per the clean feed policy, the foreign channels like Indian channels distributed in Nepal are not allowed to air advertisements. Even Nepal’s channels must air only domestic advertisements. Nepal’s government believed that as soon as foreign advertisements stop broadcasting on Nepali television, Nepal’s advertising market would skyrocket and many Nepali artists were expected to get a chance to work.
Initially, its implementation faced challenges due to exorbitant costs involved, but foreign broadcasters eventually relented and provided clean feeds of their channels in Nepal.
However, recent actions, such as withholding remittance approvals and subsequent channel disconnections by Indian TV channels, have undermined the progress made, thus questioning the ‘clean feed policy’.
Contrary to the objective of the ‘clean feed policy’, Nepali distributors started distributing pirated Indian channels which carry Indian advertisements.
Indian broadcasters have expressed concern over the development in Nepal as the continued inaction by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MOCIT), Government of Nepal, has allowed a culture of piracy to flourish, as per Indian industry sources, hurting both broadcasters and protection of intellectual property in Nepal. Sources added that stakeholders also call upon the Indian government to help Indian broadcasters by taking up the issue at appropriate level in Nepal and to help arrive at a resolution.