The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), New Delhi in the case of Sony Pictures Network India Ltd. v. Moon IT services Pvt. Ltd. stated that no one is liable to pay the money once the term of the agreement expires.
Petitioner: Sony Pictures Networks India Pvt. Ltd.
Respondents: Moon IT Services Pvt. Ltd.
Judge: Mr Shiva Kirti Singh
Decided On: 22 October 2019
Facts of the Dispute
Moon IT Services Pvt. Ltd, a private limited company and an authorized agent of Sony Pictures Networks India Pvt. Ltd. (SPN) and TV Today (TVT which entered into an agreement with the respondent MSO for distribution of signals of some TV channels belonging to petitioner broadcaster for the period 1.4.2014 to 31.12.2014 with monthly subscription fee of Rs.79,838 /-for the SPN channels and Rs.1,629/- for the TVT channels including taxes. After making regular payments for a few months the respondent stopped making the payment from September onwards. Therefore, the petitioner discontinued the service on 16.2.2015 i.e. two months later of expiry of agreement and claimed Rs.71,22,383/- with an interest of 18% p.a. as the dues recoverable from the respondent on accounts for both sets of channels.
Decision of TDSAT
The court stated that seeing the irresponsible behaviour and the aforesaid circumstances, the claim of the petitioner for Rs. 71,22,383.00 including interest rates should have been allowed but the agreement between the parties was valid till 31.12.2014 whereas petitioner has raised invoices and charged the respondent for the period till 16.2.2015. the court following the judgement of UCN cable stated that the petitioner’s claim must be confined to the period covered by the affiliation agreement.
A decree for Rs. 4,67,288/- (Rupees four lakhs sixty-seven thousand two hundred and eighty-eight) was given in favour of the petitioner and against the respondent is passed along with interest, but only at the rate of 8% per annum which has been allowed in a large number of similar cases. The interest shall be payable on the aforesaid rate from May 2016 till the date of realization.
The respondent is directed to pay the amount as per this order within six weeks failing which the petitioner will be entitled to realize the entire amount through execution application.
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