The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will finalise the National Broadcast Policy by the end of May this year once the comments from all the stakeholders are in, said Anil Kumar Lahoti, Chairman of the regulatory body, on Thursday. The draft policy will then be handed over to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB).

Lahoti said TRAI’s goal is to provide a level playing field to all stakeholders in the industry.

“As regulatory authority, our goal is to provide a level playing field for all the players in the industry. There should be no entry barriers for any new entrants and there should be no discrimination between different players.

“The objective remains that finally the consumer should be getting a good quality product at an affordable price and there should be convenience in availing the entire service,” Lahoti said.

Terming the National Broadcast Policy as “important”, the TRAI chairman said that before doing the main consultation, a pre-consultation was also done.

“The last date for giving the comments is 30th April. And since it is only an input to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, we have already informed that there will be no opportunity for counter-comments.

“So as soon as the comments come, we will be immediately finalizing our inputs. We have a target of finalizing it by the end of May, so that it is in the hands of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting by maybe the first week of June or so,” he said at an industry event.

On April 2, TRAI had issued a consultation paper on the policy in which it seeks to push indigenous manufacturing of broadcasting equipment, research & development, affordable television services and promotion of Indian content on OTTs.

Through this policy, the government aims to address challenges posed by technological advancements and security issues, particularly in content distribution, by implementing measures to combat piracy, unauthorized distribution, and ensure copyright protection.

The plan also includes improving public broadcasting services and providing affordable television services in 'TV Dark' homes.

Other focus areas of the policy include making India a preferred filming destination, promoting Indian content through OTT platforms, developing ecosystems for animation, VFX, and post-production, facilitating skill development, establishing grievance redressal mechanisms in the sector, managing audiences and rating systems, and regulating online gaming, among other things.