Pemra chief assures cable operators of considering demands

ISLAMABAD: Chairman Pakistan Electronic and Media Authority (Pemra) has assured The Cable Operators Association of Pakistan (COAP) to positively consider all the fourteen demands of the representatives of the cable industry.

COAP office bearers Imran Haider Abidi, Sardar Romail Butt, Sheikh Ejaz and others called on Chairman Pemra Absar Alam in his office on Tuesday. The 14 COAP demands as elaborated in their application are as under:

1- Tenure of the Cable TV Licences (CTV) be increased from 5 to 15 years. 

2- Up-gradation of the licence in big cities be made after consultation from other competitors. 

3- In-House CD channel permission may kindly be made optional as already declared in Pemra Rules 2009.

4- Foreign content on in-house channels should be allowed without any discrimination.

5- GAAR be decreased from 5% to 2% without any discrimination.

6- Rs12 per subscriber per annum should be eliminated from cable TV licences.

7- Pemra must evolve a mechanism for carriage fee from the TV channels.

8- Digitisation be pended till Pemra have at least 250 to 300 channels otherwise foreign content be allowed to the extent of digital networks. 

9- The reference value of Set Top Box (STB)/TV tuner (low end brands under PCT 8528.7190) China have recently been fixed $7.40pc by the Directorate General of Customs Valuation. It must be taken back to its previous value i.e $2, otherwise digitisation in the country is next to impossible.

10- As per your kind commitment, Pemra may request to the Federal Government for allocating Rs5 billion for granting interest-free loans to the cable operators (B-3 and above) from Universal Service Fund (USF) for speedy digitisation of their respective networks.

11- All the provincial revenue authorities like PRA, SRB and others be persuaded by Pemra to immediately stop taxing the cable operators because it's a federal subject. Moreover, after 18th Amendment provinces have much more funds and cable operators be spared as they entertain their consumers 24 hours throughout the year.

12- All the revalidation cases must be cleared within a period of one month. Such cases should not be lingered on due to partnership disputes.

13- Like other government departments, officers and field inspectors of various regions and sub-offices of Pemra must be rotated after every three years to curb corrupt practices.

14- Policy for the NOCs be announced on priority but after consultation with all the stakeholders like CTV operators, importers and vendors.