As the date for registering of private channels in India closes, the ministry of information and broadcasting on May 9 said that 173 television channels have been permitted to uplink from India and the ministry has received 41 fresh applications asking for permission to downlink in India.

As per the downlinking and uplinking guidelines, all TV channels which operate in India have to register themselves in order to continue their operations.

“Of the 173 channels, 164 were granted permission prior to December last year and nine thereafter. 41 applications have been received by the ministry for downlinking. Out of the 41 channels, three are news and current affairs based whereas the rest are entertainment based,” I&B ministry said in a statement.

The I&B ministry also clarified that a cable operator may continue to carry or include in his cable service any television broadcast or channel, which has made an application for registration to the Central government on or before May 11, 2006 — the date of commencement of the notification of amendments in the Cable Television Network Rules and DTH guidelines.

Such carriage will be permitted for a period of six months from the date of commencement or till registration for the television channel has been granted or refused, whichever is earlier, I&B officials said.

In case of those channels uplinking from India, in accordance with permission for uplinking granted before 2 December 2005, they shall be treated as ‘registered’ television channels and they can be carried or included in the cable service.

It may be recalled that policy guidelines for downlinking of television channels were issued in November 2005. The downlinking guidelines provide that, “no cable operator or DTH service provider shall, after the expiry of 180 days from the date of this notification, carry or include in his cable/DTH network any television channel that has not been registered under these guidelines”.

Amendments to this effect in the Cable Television Network Rules 1994 and DTH guidelines are being notified separately. This notification will be issued on May 11, ministry officials said.

( www.financialexpress.com)