‘Curious Case of NaMo TV’: What is the Mystery Behind the Channel?

Since its launch, NaMo TV has sparked questions on its legality and ownership.

(Photo: Erum Gour/The Quint)

Since its debut, NaMo TV has been at the centre of many controversies.

Launched nearly two weeks after the Model Code of Conduct came into effect, several Opposition parties have taken the matter to the Election Commission, challenging its legality.

However, with EC yet to put out the verdict on the channel, media outlets reports are now questioning its ownership, stating that NaMo TV didn’t file application for license. Moreover, DTH service provider, Tata Sky at first called the channel a "news service" but later retracted from its statement.

Therefore, what is truth about the “mysterious” NaMo TV? How does a channel broadcast without applying for a license?

Speaking on the issue, BloombergQuint’s Tamanna Inamdar on Thursday, 4 April, was joined by former CEO of Prasar Bharati, Jawahar Sircar and Supreme Court advocate, Apar Gupta on her show Primetime Debate.

Initiating the discussion, Sircar claimed that every TV channel in India has to apply for a broadcast license. However, the former Prasar Bharati CEO indicated in the case of NaMo TV, the channel instead of applying for a license with the government, it directly went to the DTH service providers, for airing the channel.

"Every person who has wanted to broadcast their own TV channel, has had to go through a rigorous procedure and verification rounds for licences... Now here is one person who says I don't need your license. Therefore, if he doesn't want a licence, then no one else would need a licence," Sircar said.

Similarly, when asked about the authenticity of channel, Gupta echoed Sircars’s claims and said the channel did not follow “regulations.”

“There is no such special category... If we start coining these phrases like special services, it is not in the spirit of the broadcasting regulations India,” Gupta said.