The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Thursday (February 5, 2026) issued the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Companies Interconnection (Addressable Techniques) (Seventh Modification) Laws, 2026, following consultations with stakeholders.
“Throughout varied interactions with the Authority, the stakeholders had highlighted the necessity for bettering audit associated provisions within the Interconnection Laws 2017 (as amended) and the audit handbook; decreasing repetitive audits of DPOs (Distribution Platform Operators), leading to useful resource wastage, operational disruption, and diminished stakeholders’ confidence within the audit course of; and incorporating provisions associated to infrastructure sharing within the audit framework,” mentioned TRAI.
Additionally they sought measures to reinforce the accountability of auditors and categorising auditors primarily based on their expertise to make sure credibility of auditors.
Primarily based on the consultations, TRAI finalised the modification rules. The salient options embrace: Clearly outlined timelines for audits; whereby distributors should conduct audit and submit audit report back to broadcasters by September 30 yearly; Audit is to be achieved on monetary yr foundation instead of calendar yr; and Broadcasters can depute their consultant throughout audit to make sure transparency and credibility of the audit course of.
“If broadcasters discover inadequacies/discrepancies in audit report, they’ll search clarifications from the auditor by means of DPO. Auditors should make clear the identical in a time-bound method. If broadcaster is just not happy with these clarifications, it may well get the audit performed at its personal value, after acquiring approval of the Authority. In case a broadcaster doesn’t obtain the audit report by September 30 from the distributor, it may well trigger audit of such a distributor,” mentioned TRAI.
The requirement of annual audit at DPOs value has been made non-compulsory for distributors with fewer than 30,000 subscribers. Nevertheless, broadcasters can get such DPOs audited at broadcasters’ value. The amended audit handbook might be issued in alignment with the up to date regulatory framework shortly.
The amendments are geared toward guaranteeing enhanced credibility and accountability within the audit course of and scale back the situations of repetitive audits with out compromising stakeholder belief.
Printed – February 06, 2026 04:04 am IST
