Cabinet approves revision in guidelines for providing DTH services; takes big step for education of SC students

The cap of 49% FDl in the existing DTH guidelines will now be aligned with the extant Government (DPIIT's) policy on FDl as amended from time to time.

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New Delhi: The Union Information & Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday (December 23, 2020) announced that the Cabinet has approved a revision in the guidelines for providing Direct-To-Home (DTH) services in India. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi also approved major and transformative changes in the Centrally Sponsored Scheme ‘Post Matric Scholarship to students belonging to Scheduled Castes (PMS-SC)’ to benefit more than four crore SC students in the next five years so that they can successfully complete their higher education.

The salient features of the revision in guidelines for providing DTH services:

1. License for the DTH will be issued for a period of 20 years in place of the present 10 years. Further the period of License may be renewed by 10 years at a time.

2. License fee has been revised from 10% of GR to 8% of AGR. AGR will be calculated by deduction of GST from GR.

3. License Fee will be collected on a quarterly basis in lieu of presently annual basis.

4. DTH operators shall be permitted to operate .to a maximum of 5% of its total channel carrying capacity as permitted platform channels.  A one-time non-refundable registration fee of Rs.10,000 per PS channel shall be charged from a DTH operator.

5. Sharing of Infrastructure between DTH operators. DTH operators, willing to share DTH platform and transport stream of TV channels, on voluntary basis, will be allowed. Distributors of TV channels will be permitted to share the common hardware for their Subscriber Management System (SMS) and Conditional Access System (CAS) applications.

6. The cap of 49% FDl in the existing DTH guidelines will be aligned with the extant Government (DPIIT's) policy on FDl as amended from time to time.

7. The decision will come into effect as per revised DTH guidelines are issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

#Cabinet approves revision in guidelines for providing DTH services in the country. DTH license will now be issued for 20 years, and renewal will be done in every 10 years: Union Minister @PrakashJavdekar #CabinetDecisions pic.twitter.com/CUIFHizBwb — PIB India (@PIB_India) December 23, 2020

Notably, the proposed reduction is intended to align the license fee regime applicable to the Telecom sector and will be prospectively applied. The difference may also enable DTH service providers to invest for more coverage leading to increased operations and higher growth and thereby enhanced and regular payment of License Fee by them. 

"The registration fee for Platform Services is likely to bring a revenue of approximately Rs 12 lakhs and sharing of infrastructure by the DTH operators may bring in more efficient use of scarce satellite resources and reduce the costs borne by the consumers. Adoption of the extant FDI policy will bring in more foreign investment into the country," said the Cabinet.

They added, "The amended DTH guidelines, with longer license period and clarity on renewals, relaxed FDI limits, etc, will ensure a fair degree of stability and new investments in the DTH sector along with employment opportunities."

On the other hand, the Cabinet approved major and transformative changes in the Centrally Sponsored Scheme ‘Post Matric Scholarship to students belonging to Scheduled Castes (PMS-SC)’. 

They approved a total investment of Rs 59,048 cr of which Central Government would spend Rs 35,534 Cr (60%) and the balance would be spent by the State Governments. 

#Cabinet approves Rs.59,000 cr post matric scholarship scheme for SC students in 5 years; Central Government would spend Rs. 35,534 Crore (60%) & the balance would be spent by the states. Central share would be released on DBT mode: Union Minister @TCGEHLOT pic.twitter.com/diS4Lk3lzo — PIB India (@PIB_India) December 23, 2020

"This replaces the existing 'committed liability' system and brings greater involvement of the Central Govt in this crucial scheme," said the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).

"The Post Matric Scholarship Scheme for Scheduled Castes allows students to pursue any post-matric course starting from class 11th and onwards, with the Govt meeting the cost of education. The Central Govt is committed to give a big push and further impetus to this effort so that the GER (Higher Education) of SCs would reach up to the National standards within the 5 year period," they added.

They also said that the focus of the scheme would be on enrolling the poorest students, timely payments, comprehensive accountability, continuous monitoring and total transparency. 

Following are the details:

1. A campaign will be launched to enrol the students, from the poorest households passing the 10th standard, in the higher education courses of their choice. It is estimated that 1.36 Cr such poorest students, who are currently not continuing their education beyond 10th standards would be brought into the higher education system in the next 5 years. 

2. The scheme will be run on an online platform with robust cybersecurity measures that would assure transparency, accountability, efficiency, and timely delivery of the assistance without any delays.

3. The States will undertake fool-proof verification of the eligibility, caste status, Aadhar identification and bank account details on the online portal.

4. Transfer of financial assistance to the students under the scheme shall be on DBT mode, and preferably using the Aadhar Enabled Payment System. Starting from 2021-22, the Central share (60%) in the scheme would be released on DBT mode directly into the bank accounts of the students as per fixed time schedule, after ensuring that the concerned State Government has released their share.

5. Monitoring mechanism will be further strengthened through the conduct of social audits, annual third party evaluation, and half-yearly self-audited reports from each institution. 

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs said, "The Central Assistance which was around Rs 1100 crore annually during 2017-18 to 2019-20 would be increased more than 5 times to be around Rs 6000 core annually during 2020-21 to 2025-26."