Digitalisation of the pay TV sector should be a national priority. There should be an urgent rationalisation of the tax burden on the DTH industry which currently exceeds 50 per cent.

This means, consumers are paying more than they should for digital TV services and the analog cable industry that under-declares its connections and evades tax on a massive scale is being indirectly subsidised.

The Government loses more than Rs 4,500 crore of tax which should be coming to it from the cable industry every year.

Secondly, the imposition of customs duty on DTH set top boxes last year was short-sighted and serves no purpose except to increase prices and make us uncompetitive. The Government should also look at the early introduction of GST and the subsuming of State entertainment taxes under it, which is very critical.

Vikram Kaushik, Managing Director & CEO, Tata Sky Ltd

Source: The Hindu Business Line