TRAI favours news, current affairs programmes on private FM radio

Broadcast regulator TRAI on Tuesday recommended that private FM radio operators be allowed to broadcast news and current affairs programmes for 10 minutes every clock hour. In its recommendations on ‘Issues related to FM Radio Broadcasting’, the TRAI also said that the programme code of conduct as applicable to All India Radio for news content may also be applied to private FM radio channels.

“Private FM Radio Operators should be allowed to broadcast news and current affairs programs, limited to 10 minutes in each clock hour,” it said.

The TRAI also said that functions or features pertaining to FM radio should remain enabled and activated on all mobile handsets having the necessary hardware.

“Built-in FM radio receiver in mobile handset must not be subjected to any form of disablement or deactivation,” it said.
The regulator said the annual licence fee of a FM radio channel should be de-linked from Non-Refundable One Time Entry Fee (NOTEF). It also said that the license fee should be calculated as four per cent of the Gross Revenue (GR) of the FM radio channel during the respective financial year. The TRAI said GST should be excluded from GR and also urged the government to take appropriate measures to provide relief to the FM radio operators to address challenges posed due to COVID-19 pandemic.