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A day after reprimanding Zee-Turner for switching off TV channel signals to a subscriber without proper notice, Telecom Regulatory Authority on wednesday wielded the stick at Set Discovery Pvt Ltd asking it to immediately restore services to Allahabad-based Three Star Communication and furnish a compliance report within two days.
The tough stance by the broadcast regulator TRAI comes just over a month after it issued the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable Services) Interconnection Regulation on December 10, which makes it mandatory for a broadcaster or a multi-system operator to give notice of a specified period along with brief reasons to a distributor of TV channels before the disconnection of signals.
TRAI issued the orders to Set Discovery after receiving a complaint from Three Star Communication on December 21 last year.
It dismissed Set Discovery's plea that it was "within contractual rights" to terminate the signals as Three Star Communication was a chronic defaulter and had outstanding dues of over Rs 1,40,000 since August 2004.
The regulator said Set Discovery neither gave a month's notice to Three Star Communication before disconnection, nor did it give notice in two local newspapers or two national dailies or through a scroll in the channel before taking the step.
Thus, it said the distributor had failed to comply with the provisions mentioned in the Interconnection Regulation.