MUMBAI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the central government and the Gujarat state government has time until 13 December to submit their responses to the Gujarat High Court. The three parties were dragged to court by the Gujarat Cable Operators Association (GCOA) on issues associated to the digitisation process.

The court hearing which took place on 6 December was adjourned till 13 December as the lawyers representing the multi-system operators (MSOs) were not present at the court hearing. “It was TRAI that made MSOs a party in the case. The Court adjourned the case since the lawyers representing the MSOs did not turn up for the hearing,” said Gujarat Cable Operators Association president Pramod Pandya.

Earlier, GCOA had filed a petition to the HC, challenging the legality of Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Tariff and the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable Services) Interconnection Regulations. After this, in its hearing on 13 November, the Court had asked the TRAI and government to declare the reasons for formulating the existing laws pertaining to tariff and interconnection.

Pandya had earlier told Indiantelevision.com that the TRAI aims to remove the local cable operators. “We have challenged all the notifications passed by TRAI. This includes revenue share, consumer application forms (CAFs) and billing,” he said. 

The parties were given 15 days to submit their responses; however, it’s almost a month now since the first Court hearing took place. “We are hopeful that the HC will come out with its judgment on 13 December hearing,” he concluded.