Latest news with #DTH
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
23-05-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
SC upholds states' power to levy entertainment tax on DTH, cable services
The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the constitutional validity of entertainment tax imposed by state governments on cable and Direct-to-Home (DTH) television services. A Bench comprising Justices BV Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh ruled that states have the legislative authority to tax the entertainment component of such services, even if the broadcasting function is already subject to service tax by the Union government, Bar and Bench reported. DTH operators' appeals dismissed The top court dismissed appeals filed by major DTH providers, including Tata Sky (now Tata Play), Dish TV, and Sun Direct. These companies had challenged various state entertainment tax laws, arguing that the tax was unconstitutional since the Centre already levied a service tax on broadcasting. 'The state legislatures as well as the Parliament, both have the legislative competence to levy entertainment tax as well as service tax respectively on the activity carried out by the assessees herein,' the court stated in its 321-page judgment. The appeals arose from decisions of several high courts that had upheld the validity of state entertainment tax laws enacted under Entry 62 of the State List in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution. The states involved included Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Assam, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Odisha, and Uttarakhand. Broadcasting taxed on dual aspects Central to the Court's decision was the 'aspect theory', which permits different levels of government to tax separate components of the same transaction. 'The activity of broadcasting is for the purpose of entertainment of the subscriber... There are two aspects in this activity; the first is the act of transmission of signals... The second aspect concerns... the decryption of the signals by the set-top boxes,' the judgment noted. While the Centre can tax the service of broadcasting under Entry 97 of List I, the states are constitutionally permitted to tax the entertainment aspect under Entry 62 of List II. This distinction allows both forms of taxation to co-exist without conflict, the news report said. Court rejects industry argument DTH operators contended they were merely intermediaries in the broadcasting chain and that only service tax should apply. They argued that no separate 'entertainment' aspect existed in their services. The court, however, disagreed. 'No entertainment can be presented to the viewers unless the broadcaster transmits the signals for instantaneous presentation of any performance, film or any programme on their television,' it said. The SC Bench concluded that DTH service providers play a direct and essential role in delivering entertainment by providing set-top boxes and viewing cards that decrypt signals, the news report said. Kerala's appeal allowed; HC ruling overturned The judgment also reversed a 2012 Kerala High Court ruling that struck down a provision of the Kerala Tax on Luxuries Act, 1976. That provision had imposed a luxury tax on cable operators with more than 7,500 connections, while exempting smaller operators. The high court had held this classification violated Article 14 of the Constitution. 'The High Court erred in holding that the classification was unreasonable and lacked any rational nexus with the objects of the Kerala Act of 1976,' the Supreme Court ruled, allowing Kerala's appeal. Retrospective taxation addressed The apex court partially allowed appeals concerning retrospective taxation in Uttar Pradesh. It ruled that states cannot impose entertainment tax on DTH services for periods before legislative amendments specifically included such services. 'There needs to be a specific inclusion of DTH services within the ambit of entertainment in the charging provision... In the absence of specificity, the lacuna of a missing taxable event persists,' the court said. Clarification on taxing powers The judgment offered significant insights into constitutional interpretation, highlighting that taxation powers are distinct and cannot be implied under regulatory entries, the news report stated. "Under the Constitution of India, the power to tax is not an incidental or ancillary power," the court said, emphasising that Entry 31 of List I (covering broadcasting) does not empower taxation, whereas Entry 62 of List II specifically does. The top court reaffirmed that valid tax legislation must identify the taxable event, the measure and rate of tax, and who bears the incidence. It concluded that most state laws imposing entertainment tax on DTH services meet these constitutional criteria.
Epoch Times
23-05-2025
- Business
- Epoch Times
Musk's Starlink Cautioned on Record-Keeping by Australian Regulator
Elon Musk's Starlink, which delivers the internet by satellite, has received a formal warning from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). The service signed up its first Australian customers in 2021, after launching in 2019, and its popularity grew rapidly due to the continent's remote geography. In many places outside of cities and sizeable towns, traditional delivery by fibre optic cables or Wi-Fi is impossible, and remote areas that do have alternatives usually have to rely on the slower copper wire network. According to the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development, as of early 2025, Starlink has over 350,000 customers in Australia, representing approximately 4.2 percent of homes. Telecommunications companies with more than 30,000 active customers are required to report to ACMA on the number and nature of complaints they receive, no later than 30 days after each quarter. But Starlink failed to do so on four occasions between October 2023 and July 2024. Related Stories 4/29/2025 2/18/2025 'Starlink's failure to submit the required complaints reports in a timely way hampered the ACMA in its role of monitoring whether Starlink is meeting its obligations towards consumers,' authority member Samantha Yorke said. ACMA says the company has since rectified the issue by providing the outstanding complaints reports and cooperated throughout the investigation. The growing uptake of Starlink has led to speculation that it could become a competitor to Australia's National Broadband Network (NBN), but there are concerns about the risks this may pose. Last year, a regional telecommunications review ( In July 2023, Optus announced a partnership with Starlink to deliver outdoor direct-to-home (DTH) mobile connectivity in areas without existing mobile coverage, providing near 100 percent coverage of the Australian continent where the user has line of sight to the sky. Optus has indicated it plans to initially roll out SMS capability. Voice and limited data capabilities will be available about a year after the initial deployment, once more Starlink DTH capable satellites are launched. However, some submissions to the review pointed out that the high upfront equipment costs, ongoing subscription fees and self-install model make it inaccessible for some households and businesses, especially in rural and remote areas. 'Starlink requires the installation of a $599 terminal and a monthly fee of $139 for a residential service. This is out of reach for lowest income households,' according to a submission from ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making.
The Print
22-05-2025
- Business
- The Print
DTH services liable to pay service and entertainment tax: SC
The entry deals with taxes on luxuries, including taxes on entertainments, amusements, betting and gambling. A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh said broadcast was a service and liable to service tax imposed by Parliament and the activity of entertainment under Entry 62-List II in the Constitution. New Delhi, May 22 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that state legislatures and Parliament can levy entertainment tax and service tax respectively on DTH services provided to consumers. The top court said no entertainment could be presented to the viewers unless the broadcaster transmitted the signals for instantaneous presentation of any performance, film or any programme on their television. 'Thus, there are two aspects in this activity — the act of transmission of signals of the content to the subscribers. The second aspect here concerns not only the content of the signals, but the effect of the decryption of the signals by the set-top boxes and the viewing cards inside these boxes provided by the assessees to the subscribers, which is providing and receiving of entertainment through the television,' the bench said. Without the apparatus provided for by the assessees to decrypt the signals, the court noted, the subscriber would not be able to watch the transmitted content, which is consumed for entertainment. 'The television entertainment provided by them through their modus operandi, i.e., by broadcasting, is a luxury within the meaning of Entry 62 – List II,' the bench said. The DTH operators engaged in the activity of providing entertainment were liable to pay service tax on the activity of broadcasting under the provisions of the Finance Act, 1994, being further liable to pay entertainment tax, it held. The verdict came on a batch of appeals against high court orders which held that levy of entertainment tax was unconstitutional. Another batch of appeals filed by DTH operators challenged the provisions of the respective state Acts levying entertainment tax on them. The operators argued that they were not liable to pay entertainment tax (or luxury tax) under the respective provisions of the state enactments as they were broadcasting signals, etc., through television channels to the subscribers. PTI PKS PKS AMK AMK This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
