TDSAT Orders FM Broadcaster to Pay ₹92.7 Lakh and Vacate Prasar Bharati Infrastructure

The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has directed a Haryana-based FM radio operator to pay more than ₹92.7 lakh in unpaid fees and damages and immediately vacate transmission infrastructure owned by Prasar Bharati — nearly 17 years after the broadcaster’s FM licence was cancelled by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB).

The tribunal, presided over by Justice Ram Krishna Gautam, ruled that Singla Property Dealers Pvt Ltd’s continued occupation of the All India Radio (AIR) campus at Hissar was “unauthorised, illegal and contrary” to the terms of their infrastructure licence agreement. The order settles a long-running dispute and sends a clear signal about the enforceability of infrastructure-sharing contracts in India’s broadcasting sector.

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How the Dispute Began — A Phase-II FM Licence Gone Wrong

The case traces back to the Government of India’s Phase-II FM radio expansion launched in 2005, which opened up FM frequencies in smaller cities to private operators. Singla Property Dealers won the bid for the Hissar FM radio station and signed a Grant of Permission Agreement (GOPA) with MIB in October 2006.

As required under the Phase-II framework, private broadcasters were obligated to use transmission infrastructure provided by Prasar Bharati — the public broadcasting body that owns India’s vast network of towers and transmission facilities. Accordingly, Prasar Bharati and Singla signed a separate infrastructure licence agreement in March 2006, granting the company access to tower aperture and open space facilities at the AIR Hissar premises in exchange for an annual licence fee of ₹5.02 lakh, subject to periodic escalation.

The arrangement worked — until MIB terminated Singla’s FM broadcasting licence on 17 July 2009. Under a specific clause in the infrastructure agreement, this termination automatically nullified the infrastructure licence as well. At that point, Singla was contractually required to remove all equipment and vacate the site.

Equipment Left Behind, Dues Left Unpaid

That is precisely where the dispute hardened. Despite repeated notices from Prasar Bharati over the years, Singla neither removed its transmission equipment nor vacated the premises. The company also owed licence fee arrears for the period between October 2007 and July 2009 — dues that had accumulated even before the GOPA was terminated.

At the heart of the damages claim was Clause 7.7 of the infrastructure agreement, which stipulated that a broadcaster failing to vacate after termination would be liable to pay damages equivalent to five times the applicable annual rent. Prasar Bharati calculated total outstanding dues — combining arrears, delayed payment charges, and five-times-rent damages — at over ₹92 lakh as of 31 December 2015.

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Tribunal Rules in Prasar Bharati’s Favour — Ex Parte

A striking feature of the proceedings was that Singla Property Dealers did not participate at all. Despite notices — including service through police authorities — the company filed no reply and made no appearance before the tribunal. The case was therefore decided ex parte, solely on the basis of Prasar Bharati’s documentary evidence.

That evidence included the original tender documents, the GOPA, the infrastructure agreement, termination communications, demand notices, and financial calculations — all proved through an affidavit of Prasar Bharati’s authorised representative. The tribunal found this evidence entirely unrebutted.

TDSAT also cited its own earlier rulings in cases involving Chinnar Circuit Limited and Pan India Network Infravest Pvt Ltd — both involving similar post-termination occupation of Prasar Bharati infrastructure — as precedents supporting its findings. The Supreme Court had dismissed challenges to at least one of those decisions.

What the Tribunal Has Awarded

The tribunal’s final order directs Singla Property Dealers to:

• Pay ₹80.39 lakh as damages for unauthorised occupation from 17 July 2009 to 31 December 2015
• Pay ₹12.34 lakh towards licence fee arrears and delayed payment charges
• Pay simple interest at 9% per annum on the total awarded amount from 31 December 2015 until actual payment
• Vacate the licensed infrastructure within two months from the date of the order

The tribunal further warned that failure to vacate within the two-month window would attract continuing damages at the same rate for every additional day of default.

Why This Ruling Matters for Prasar Bharati

The judgment is more than a recovery order in one dispute. It reinforces that infrastructure-sharing agreements with Prasar Bharati carry independent contractual force — they do not dissolve quietly when a broadcasting licence lapses. Private operators who continue to occupy government transmission infrastructure after their licences are cancelled remain fully liable for damages, regardless of whether their FM operations ever resumed.

For Prasar Bharati, which manages one of the world’s largest terrestrial broadcasting networks through Doordarshan and AIR, the ruling strengthens its hand in recovering dues from defunct or inactive FM licensees still occupying its facilities across India. The consistent line of TDSAT decisions on this issue — upheld by the Supreme Court — leaves little legal ambiguity for any broadcaster still sitting on public infrastructure without a valid licence.

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Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only, based on publicly available information. Readers are advised to refer to official notifications and legal documents for complete details.