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In a letter to information and broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar, the IBF has listed 18 demands, including an 18-month regulatory moratorium, phased resumption of production activities and more.
The broadcasting business has been hit both on the demand and supply side, which has not only led to cash flow problems but has also resulted in existential crisis for many of the IBF’s members.
Broadcasters’ cash flow difficulties are further compounded because payments from Bureau of Outreach & Communication (BOC) and other state government advertising agencies/advertisers running in several hundreds of crores have not been received. IBF has also sought MIB’s intervention in expediting these payments.
“With complete cessation of production of television shows, cancellations of live sporting events and scheduled advertisements, advertisement bookings nose-diving by ~50%; delays in payments by advertising agencies/advertisers and distribution platform operators, the broadcast sector is facing the brunt of the slowdown,” said NP Singh, president, IBF and MD & CEO, Sony Pictures Networks India.
Among other demands listed by the IBF, are – mandating digital payments of subscription and advertising dues; advisory to distribution players to release of subscription payments till February-end; waiver of processing fee and temporary live uplinking fee for live sporting events for a period of one year from the resumption of normal business activities; doubling the time period to two years for operationalisation of new channels; waiver of carriage fee due to Prasar Bharati for April-June for free-to-air channels on DD FreeDish platform; urgent processing of all pending refunds exceeding Rs 5 lakh; waiver from the first instalment of advance tax (due on June 15) and no interest liability on the second instalment (due on September 15); extension of TDS deposit due date; reduction of TDS from 10% to 2% on subscription revenues; deferment on payments of stamp duty upto 90 days from lifting of lockdown; and extension of 6 months on all existing stay of income tax demands.
IBF feels that the stimulus package from the government can help all broadcasters, especially the smaller businesses, to get back on track.
“IBF has also requested the Government for reduction in GST rate on Digital services (B2C), automatic refund of input credit and immediate processing and issuance of Lower withholding order,” Singh said.
Print and Electronic Media, including broadcasting, DTH and cable services, have been notified as part of the ‘essential services’ during the lockdown period. However, with commute restrictions and complete halt of production schedules, providing entertainment and news to the viewers has become a challenge to broadcasters.
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