High Court stays Arasu Cable TV’s recovery notice issued to LCOs

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court granted stay to the recovery notices issued by the Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation Limited against Local Cable Operators (LCO).

Tamizhaga Cable TV Operators General Welfare Association moved the High Court seeking to quash the demand notice for outstanding dues issued by Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation Limited.

Advocate Richardson Wilson appearing for the petitioner, advanced his arguments before Justice N Sashasayee and contended that though Arasu cable is owned by the government, it is only a corporation and recourse cannot be done through the Revenue Recovery (RR) Act to claim its dues.

He further submitted that any dispute between Arasu Cable and LCO is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the TDSAT under Section 14 of the TRAI Act, 1997. “Thus, using government powers under the RR Act is an abuse of power,” he contended. The Additional Advocate General J Ravindran appearing for Arasu Cable opposed the petition. After the submissions, the Justice granted stay to the recovery notices issued by the Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation Limited.

In 2011 the Union government mandated digitalisation of cable TV services from analog across India. The petitioner alleged that after registering as LCO in Arasu cable, it did not give a signal but on the other hand began automated billing on its portal. Therefore the petitioners shifted to other digitalised services in 2017. After four years Arasu Cable issued notice through the revenue department demanding outstanding dues for the analog period, without any show cause notice.