Lack of proper communication between the wings of two key ministries responsible for upkeep of a decent swathe of the local communication sector has found a hapless victim. Applications of at least 50 community radio stations (CRS) are pending for more than a year in the absence of a clear message on the status of licence fee.

While the applications have been cleared by the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry, they are in limbo as the wireless protection and coordination wing (WPC) of the IT and communications ministry is refusing to issue them the licence for public transmission.

Usually run on a not-for-profit mode, community radio stations serve small geographic communities and communities of interest by airing content relevant to the area-specific populace, a facet often overlooked by commercial broadcasters. Under the 2006 community radio policy, any not-for-profit "legal entity" — barring individuals, political parties and/or affiliates, criminal and banned organizations — can apply for a licence.

While the government is giving this medium a push, the ambiguity regarding royalty and spectrum fee has meant no new stations are being set up.

The genesis of the snag dates back to February 2012, when WPC announced a steep hike in fee, raising it from Rs 19,200 to Rs 91,000. Following protests by the stations, the IT and communications ministry last September announced a rollback. But the directive came with a rider: the rates would be rolled back to Rs 19,200 but only till March 31, 2013.

Operators, and wannabes, heaved a sigh of relief last September itself when union IT and communications minister Kapil Sibal announced that all fees for CRS would be waived.

While it was a welcome move, appreciated by the CRS community, the WPC has been mum on the subject ever since. It is refusing to meet any new applicant; neither is it clearing any pending application for licence

Don’t ministries communicate?
Sources in I&B ministry said WPC never consulted them before raising the fee nearly fivefold. In fact, a top officer in the ministry told Governance Now that they had intimated WPC that it would be unfair to seek such a hefty fee from community radio stations since they are not-for-profit organisations.

Explaining that the royalty and spectrum fees were increased for all applicants — both private and public — Inderjeet Grewal, deputy director, I&B ministry, said: “The new formula was based on coverage given by these stations. They (WPC) had raised it after 10-15 years. However, they did not consult I&B ministry. The (I&B) ministry then wrote to WPC, telling them that these are not-for-profit organisations and they cannot afford (to pay) such fees.”

It was following that missive that WPC issued the directive about rolling back the fees, Grewal said. “In fact, we also have a press release from Kapil Sibal stating that he has waived the fee altogether. But it has not been implemented yet — the modalities are still to be worked out.”

Significantly, according to guidelines, an organisation has to apply to the WPC for frequency allocations within a month of receiving the letter of intent issued by I&B ministry. But in wake of confusion over the fee amount, many applicants are waiting for nearly 18 months to get their frequency, which throws up a fresh set of issues.

Infrastructure ready but can’t go on air
According to insiders, the WPC in these many months has not allocated frequencies to any station, barring some public institutions such as educational institutes and government bodies. And that, too, was given on a provisional basis, based on their performance.

Not surprisingly, then, those in the middle of the application process have been the worst hit. Ahmedabad-based Sultan Ahmed, who works for Drishti, a not-for-profit organisation, said he applied for a CRS licence last year. But ever since, they have been reduced to producing programmes for narrowcasting (programmes made on a minor scale meant for consumption of small groups, not for public transmission).

“The I&B ministry gave us the letter of intent last year but WPC increased the fees right after that. So now we are forced to narrowcast, producing programmes and showing it to closed groups.”

The station has produced programmes around various locally relevant topics, including youth participation, education and domestic violence, Ahmed said.

Why this ambiguity, WPC?
Slamming WPC’s move to hike the licence fee as “unjustified and arbitrary”, Dr N Ramakrishnan, general secretary, Community Radio Forum of India, said, “These are not-for-profit organisations working for social development. But the ministry is rendering them incapable of doing any good work. Radio stations that have already received licences will not be affected but those in the middle of the application process are the worst hit — they cannot move forward and invest in infrastructure.”

Social development, he stressed, cannot be crippled by bureaucracy.

Ram Bhatt, spectrum analyst and director with Maraa, a not-for-profit organisation, said WPC’s ambiguity is affecting everyone. “There are people who paid a lakh as per the new fee rates. And now that the hike has been rolled back, these people want a refund. But there is no response from WPC even on that,” he said. “Then there are those who continue to pay the original price, and some who say they will not pay at all until the matter is resolved.”