1. The instant information has been filed by Consumer Online Foundation ('the informant') against Tata Sky Limited, Dish TV India Limited, Reliance Big TV Limited and Sun Direct TV Pvt. Limited ('the opposite parties') under section 19 (1) (a) of the Competition Act, 2002 ('the Act') alleging, inter alia, contravention of the provisions of sections 3 and 4 of the Act.

Background

1.1 In India, as on date there are 4 ways in which a viewer may receive broadcast of TV programs:

a. Free to Air (FTA)

b. Cable TV

c. Direct to Home

d. IP TV

1.2 The above 4 as described briefly as below:

(a) Free to Air: These are channels that are broadcast free and a viewer only needs a simple antenna to view these channels. E.g. DD, DD News, DD Plus, Star Utsav, Smile TV (Zee), India News, IBN Lokmat, B4U Music, ETC Music, Aastha, Zee Jagran, DW TV Asia Plus, Russia Today, Kairali TV, Mega TV, Star Jalsha, FM Rainbow etc. There are more than 50 FTA channels easily available in India today.

(b) Cable TV: Cable television is a system of providing television to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through fixed optical fibres or coaxial cables as opposed to the over-the-air