New Delhi: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has floated the draft Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Interconnection (Addressable Systems) (Seventh Amendment) Regulations, 2025, proposing sweeping changes to the audit framework governing television distribution platforms. The amendments, which will take effect from April 1, 2026, are aimed at ensuring transparency in subscriber reporting while easing compliance for smaller operators.
Under the proposals, every distributor of television channels—cable, DTH, IPTV or others—must get their subscriber management systems (SMS), conditional access systems (CAS), and digital rights management (DRM) audited annually for the preceding financial year. The audit reports must be shared with broadcasters by September 30 each year, aligning the process with India’s financial year cycle rather than the calendar year.
In a significant relief, distributors with an active subscriber base of up to 30,000 will not be mandated to undergo annual audits. TRAI said this move balances transparency with the need to reduce compliance costs for smaller players, many of whom had argued that audit fees consumed a disproportionate share of their revenues.
To build confidence in the process, broadcasters will be allowed to depute a representative during audits, though their role will be limited to offering inputs without influencing the outcome. If disputes arise over audit findings, broadcasters can request a review by the original auditor, and in unresolved cases, seek TRAI’s approval for a special audit at their own cost.
The draft also incorporates provisions for infrastructure sharing, reflecting guidelines issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Where distributors share SMS or CAS/DRM systems, separate instances will be mandatory to ensure data segregation, and watermarking norms have been updated to limit visible logos on screen to the broadcaster and last-mile distributor.
TRAI has invited stakeholder comments on the draft by October 6, 2025. “Accurate subscriber reporting underpins fair revenue sharing between broadcasters and distributors. These amendments aim to strengthen compliance, enhance trust, and reduce duplication of audits while promoting ease of doing business,” the regulator said in its explanatory memorandum.
Industry players are expected to scrutinize the proposals closely, especially broadcasters, who have long demanded stricter enforcement of audits to prevent underreporting, and smaller cable operators, who stand to benefit from reduced compliance burdens.
