Govt eases Cable TV licensing: Online registration, ₹5,000 fee, pan-India validity and more

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) on Friday notified amendments to the Cable Television Network Rules, 1994, introducing a fully online process for Local Cable Operator (LCO) registrations.

Under the revised framework, the ministry will serve as the registering authority and the registration certificates will be issued in real-time following the successful verification of applicant details.

Earlier, LCO registrations were managed offline through the local head post office, with the head postmaster serving as the registering authority.

“The manual registration process was cumbersome and time consuming. Also, the area of operations upon obtaining registration was limited to specific areas,” a government release said.

A provision for appeal against the denial of registration or renewal has also been added.

• The registrations will be granted or renewed for five years.

• A uniform processing fee of ₹5,000 applies for both registration and renewal.

• Renewal applications must be submitted at least 90 days before expiry.

• LCO Registration shall be valid for operations throughout the territory of India;

• Pending offline applications must be withdrawn and resubmitted online.

LCOs can appeal to the appellate authority against the decision of the registering authority within 30 days of such denial.

Existing LCO registrations will remain valid until their specified expiry dates. Operators with less than 90 days left on their registrations must apply for renewal immediately through the portal.

“The registration and renewal procedure is in line with the Government's commitment to ease of doing business, as the registration/renewal certificate shall be generated on real-time basis upon successful verification of applicants’ details online,” the ministry said.