Indian media company Zee Entertainment Enterprises is up in arms against DEN Networks, a national MSO.

Zee Entertainment said DEN Networks is violating DAS Regulations and breaching license conditions. The company claims that MIB should cancel the cable operator license of DEN Networks.

ZEEL’s letter to the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) on 27 February 2018 said that DEN is supplying signals in an un-encrypted and non-addressable mode in DAS notified areas.

ZEEL has also submitted video recordings to MIB as an evidence to show that DEN is taking channels from a DTH Set Top Box (STB) and re-transmitting the channels through its cable networks in an un-encrypted and non-addressable mode.

SN Sharma, CEO of DEN Networks, said: “We haven’t received any notice from MIB and recently BECIL (Broadcast Engineering Consultants India) conducted our audit and gave us a clean chit. Because we have put Zee channels on a-la-carte, they are not happy and coming out with such frivolous cases.”

ZEEL in a media statement said this amounts to piracy of channels under the Copyright Act, 1957 and specifically prohibited under the Programme Code as provided in Cable Television Network Rules, 1994.

The company claims that such instances of supply of signals in an un-encrypted and non-addressable mode and piracy of channels are in violation of license granted by Ministry of Information & Broadcasting to DEN and the allegations of ZEEL, if found true, may lead to cancellation of license of DEN Network Ltd.

The actions of DEN in transmitting the channels in un-encrypted and non-addressable mode & piracy of channels via DTH set top box are adversely impacting the broadcasters and causing revenue loss to the India Government.

As per ZEEL, DEN is guilty of short-changing its television customers as well as its linked operators as it has removed all Zee and Turner channels from its monthly packages, but has not reduced the consumer prices of its packages as required under Quality of Service Regulations (DAS).