Pakistan to launch crackdown on 'illegal' Indian DTH services
Agencies
Islamabad, PakistanUpdated: Sep 02, 2016, 06:00 AM IST
A PEMRA board meeting has decided to completely stop the airing of any Indian channel in the country since none of them had landing rights in Pakistan. Photograph:(Getty)
Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has announced that it will "launch a crackdown on the illegal Indian Direct to Home (DTH) services and airing of excessive foreign content", the Pakistan newspaper, Dawn reported today.
The move comes close on the heels of the launch of a Pakistani DTH service set to be introduced in coming months, the report said.
According to Indian news agency PTI, the television and radio regulator issued a warning to the local channels illegally airing contents from Indian channels and imposed a cap of less than 6 per cent of air-time to telecast Indian television channels.
The development was confirmed by the watchdog after citing complaints from TV channel owners and common citizens, the PTI reported.
The imposition of the cap is a revision of the existing Pemra rules that say only 10 per cent of airtime (two hours and 40 minutes in a 24-hour transmission) is allowed for foreign contents, it said.
“Adequate time is being given to the cable operators and satellite channels to adjust their timings as per the legal requirements. Otherwise, punitive action will be taken against the two important segments from October 15,” Pemra chairman Absar Alam said at a press conference at the authority’s headquarters, according to DAWN.
The daily, however, also underlined in the report that the board meeting decided to completely stop the airing of any Indian channel in the country since none of them had landing rights in Pakistan.
It is pertinent to mention that Indian films and dramas are keenly followed in Pakistan.
(WION with inputs from agencies)
The move comes close on the heels of the launch of a Pakistani DTH service set to be introduced in coming months, the report said.
According to Indian news agency PTI, the television and radio regulator issued a warning to the local channels illegally airing contents from Indian channels and imposed a cap of less than 6 per cent of air-time to telecast Indian television channels.
The imposition of the cap is a revision of the existing Pemra rules that say only 10 per cent of airtime (two hours and 40 minutes in a 24-hour transmission) is allowed for foreign contents.
The development was confirmed by the watchdog after citing complaints from TV channel owners and common citizens, the PTI reported.
The imposition of the cap is a revision of the existing Pemra rules that say only 10 per cent of airtime (two hours and 40 minutes in a 24-hour transmission) is allowed for foreign contents, it said.
“Adequate time is being given to the cable operators and satellite channels to adjust their timings as per the legal requirements. Otherwise, punitive action will be taken against the two important segments from October 15,” Pemra chairman Absar Alam said at a press conference at the authority’s headquarters, according to DAWN.
The daily, however, also underlined in the report that the board meeting decided to completely stop the airing of any Indian channel in the country since none of them had landing rights in Pakistan.
It is pertinent to mention that Indian films and dramas are keenly followed in Pakistan.
(WION with inputs from agencies)