Measures being taken are meant to curb use of illegal Indian satellite dishes in Pakistan.
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To counter this move of the Indian government and as a response to the increasing popularity of AIR, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has banned the Indian channels through the DTH service.
The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) warned that the violators would be slapped with hefty fines and urged them to adhere to rules.
Chairman of PEMRA Absar Alam said that the Indian channels has no landing rights in the country. Any additional airtime for Indian or foreign content on local TV channels will result in legal action from Pemra, he added.
“Only license-holder TV channels can telecast foreign content and Pakistani TV channels can air Indian content with less than 6 percent of total air time, starting October 15, 2016”. He said that all the stakeholders, including cable operators and the Pakistan Broadcasters Association, have been warned.
He gave a 45-day deadline to those showing Indian content illegally, saying any violation would be punished after the deadline.
“Around three million Indian DTH decoders are being sold in the country”. Action against people involved in the sale of Indian DTH would be taken with immediate effect.
Apart from it, the PEMRA board in its meeting also chose to completely stop the airing of any Indian channel in the country since none of them had landing rights in Pakistan. He also appealed the general public to stop use of illegal Indian dishes as it was violation of the law and against the national interests.
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Indian films, dramas and reality shows are highly popular and keenly watched in Pakistan.
