No Abuse of Dominance by ‘DEN Networks Ltd.’ Due to Presence of Other Players in the Market of Cable TV Service in U.P.

Case Details: Sobhagaya Media (P.) Ltd. v. DEN Networks Ltd. - [2023] 156 taxmann.com 110 (CCI)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• • Ms Ravneet Kaur, Chairperson & Ms Sangeeta Verma, Member

Facts of the Case

In the instant case, the Informant was engaged in the business of television broadcasting of news with the brand name ‘APN’. The OP-DEN was an agent or intermediary of several broadcasters and was stated to be distributing around 100 channels of different broadcasters.

OP was carrying the informant’s channel on its Digital Addressable Network under the agreement. The Informant had alleged that the carriage fee charged by OP from other media companies running numerous channels like News Nation Network, Information TV, Zee Media Corporation, ABP News etc. was much lower compared to what was being charged from an informant.

Aggrieved by alleged excessive carriage fees charged by OP, the Informant, filed information alleging contravention of section 4 of the Competition Act, 2002.

It was noted that the informant had not placed on record any material to suggest the dominance of OP in the relevant market i.e. market of cable TV service in the State of Uttar Pradesh.

Further, based on information available in the TRAIs paper on Recommendations on Entry Level Net worth requirement of multi-system operators (MSOs) in cable TV service, it appears that four MSOs such as SITI, IMCL, DEN and Fastway had their presence in the State of Uttar Pradesh.

In addition to these four MSOs, there were several other MSOs registered in the State of Uttar Pradesh indicating minimal entry barriers in the cable television sector.

CCI Held

The CCI held that since there were multiple players present in the market and there was no material to indicate the contrary, OP did not appear to be dominant in the said relevant market and, therefore, no case of contravention of provisions of the Act was made out against OP.

Thus, the Information filed was directed to be closed forthwith in terms of provisions of section 26(2) of the Competition Act, 2002.

List of Cases Referred to

• • Kansan News (P.) Ltd. v. Fast Way Transmission (P.) Ltd. [Case No. 36 of 2011, dated 3-7-2012] (para 20).