Key Details
TRAI’s Recommendations on Authorisation Framework for Application-Based Linear Television Distribution (ALTD) Services address three connected questions: who may run a live-TV app, which channels it may carry, and how the service would be monitored.
App authorisation: Providers aggregating scheduled TV channels through apps or websites would need national authorisation under the proposed broadcasting framework. It would last 20 years, with successive 10-year renewals.
Entry conditions: TRAI proposes a ₹10,000 processing fee and ₹1 lakh one-time entry fee, but no minimum net worth, recurring authorisation fee, bank guarantee or security deposit.
Channel approval: Apps could carry only channels with the required government permission, authorisation or registration. Channels made exclusively for these apps—termed internet-native linear television channels—would have a separate registration route for non-news and current-affairs programming, with a ₹1 lakh annual fee per channel.
App verification: MIB would maintain a Master ALTD App Repository. TV manufacturers and operating-system providers would use it to verify apps, enable authorised services without discrimination, and disable unauthorised ones.
Consumer and security safeguards: App providers would be the first point of contact for complaints, keep specified user data and records in India, and undertake security assessments before launch and periodically thereafter.
Audience measurement: Viewership through these apps would be brought into the television ratings framework.
FAST Services Prompted a Broader Live-TV Proposal
The Ministry asked TRAI to examine Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television (FAST) services, which offer scheduled channels over the internet without a subscription. TRAI’s answer extends beyond that business model. Its proposed Application-Based Linear Television Distribution (ALTD) category covers apps and websites that bring together approved scheduled channels for viewing on internet-enabled devices, whether or not they also offer on-demand content.
The proposal is not a general authorisation requirement for all online video. It excludes social-media livestreams and broadcaster-owned platforms carrying only their own channels or those of specified related companies.
Responsibility Would Follow the Channel Through the App
The application provider would obtain authorisation, check that channels have the necessary approval and remove those that lose it. Broadcasters would supply their channel feeds only to authorised ALTD providers. Separately, owners of channels created exclusively for these apps would seek registration and comply with the applicable Programme and Advertising Codes.
The proposed repository adds a further check at the device level: TV manufacturers and operating-system providerswould verify an app’s authorisation before enabling it. This divides responsibility among the channel owner, the app distributing it and the device ecosystem through which viewers find it.
Low Entry Fees Come With Ongoing Obligations
TRAI proposes relatively light financial entry conditions for a service that does not require cable or satellite distribution infrastructure. In return, authorised providers would face channel-compliance, grievance-redressal, data-storage and cybersecurity obligations. The recommendations also seek to include app-based viewing in TV audience measurement, so that a channel’s audience is not assessed solely through conventional distribution platforms.
These are TRAI recommendations, not rules already in force. The government must decide the final authorisation and registration terms.
Policy Relevance
The proposal addresses a gap between the oversight of conventional TV distribution and the growing availability of scheduled channels through internet apps. Its practical test will be whether MIB can maintain an accurate channel and app approval system that providers and device makers can use promptly — particularly when an approval is suspended or withdrawn.
The separate registration route also matters for internet-native channels: it would allow them to enter a defined regulatory system without treating every such channel as a conventional satellite broadcaster. At the same time, incorporating app viewing into TV ratings would require a credible method for measuring audiences across different devices and services.
Follow the Full Recommendations Here: TRAI’s ALTD Recommendations | TRAI Press Release