TelecomLive April-2020

Regulatory Watch Telecom LIVE April 2020 43 www.telecomlive.com Regulatory & Legal Watch Legal Watch Bombay HC restrains Andaman channel from copy- ing Bigg Boss trademark Bombay High Court has pro- vided a relief to the production house Endemol Shine Group by r e s t r a i n i n g t h e ma k e r s o f 'Andaman Big Bro' from infringing trademarks of the company's IP Bigg Boss, a local version of Ameri- canTV series 'BigBrother'. Endemol Shine Group are the makers of reality show 'Bigg Boss' and 'Big Brother'. The production house had filed a plea against a soon-to-be-launched show called 'Andaman Bigg Bro' for trademark infringement. The show 'Andaman Bigg Bro' is to be shown on the local Andaman channel 'Digital Andaman'. The production house argued that 'Bigg Boss' is produced in multiple lan- guages and any unauthorised use of the trademarks by a third party is likely to cause deception and confu- sion. While hearing the plea, Justice BP Colabawalla noted that the similarities between the two shows cannot bemere coincidence. NTO 2.0 implementation will not be deferred, Trai informs Bombay HC Trai has told the Bombay High Court that it cannot defer the implementation of the new tariff order (NTO) 2.0 which has been challenged by the broadcasters. Earlier, the bench had noted that the impugned 2020 Regulations and 2020 Tarif Order is to come into the force onMarch 1, 2020. The Indian Broadcasting Foun- dation (IBF), Star India, Sony, ZEEL, Viacom18, Disney India, The Film and Television Producers Guild of India, Asianet Star Com- munications, NGC Network India, and TV18 Broadcast have chal- lenged theNTO2.0. The broadcasters have chal- lenged Trai's decision to reduce MRP cap to Rs 12 fromRs 19, impo- sition of twin conditions on bouquet pricing, and restricting incentives only to a la carte. Obscene messages: Airtel to face trial as Madras HC refuses to quash case Madras high court has refused to quash a criminal proceeding initi- ated against Bharti Airtel by a cus- tomer for failing to stop obscene text messages being sent to his mobile. Dismissing the plea moved by Airtel, Justice P Velmurugan directed the chief judicial magis- trate in Egmore to conduct the trial proceedings in accordance with law and complete it within fourmonths. CCI dismisses complaint of unfair biz practices against telcos The Competition Commission has dismissed a complaint against Vodafone Idea , Re l i ance J io Infocomm, Airtel and Sify Technol- ogies which alleged that they were notified aminimum rate of 50 paise to curb menace of pesky messages. "With the introduction of TCCCPR (Telecom Commercial Communi- cations Customer Preference Regulations) 2018, it is felt that regulation of tariff for SMSmay not be required. charging higher rates for overseas inbound calls as compared to the ceiling fixed by Trai. The order came on a complaint filed by Canada-based Teleclub (Alberta Ltd), an international telecomcarrier. The complainant alleged that the Indian telecom operators together decided to charge standard rate of 0.0053 USD for inbound calls ter- minating on their network in India, instead of the rates fixed by Trai. As per IUC Regulations, 2018, Trai prescribes international ter- mination charges (ITC) of Rs 0.30 per minute for international incoming calls towireline andwire- less networks, it said. It added that the telcos further increased the rate of inbound calls to 0.0115 USD per minute after anothermeeting inFebruary 2018. Subsequently, the CCI sought the opinion of Trai in the matter. CCI, from the submission of Trai, noted that as per Interconnection Usage Charges (IUC) Regulations, the regulator has prescribed the ITC for international incoming calls but international settlement charge (ISC) is not regulated under the norms and has to be decided based on mutual negotiations between the Indian long distance operators and foreign service pro- viders. Trai proposes to withdraw 50p tariff for SMS beyond daily limit of 100 Trai has proposed to do away with a fix rate of 50 paise for each SMS sent beyond a daily limit of 100 messages per SIM. In its tariff order in November 2012, Trai had