PIB TrackerStreamed linear TV gets a light-touch authorisation
TRAI recommended that apps carrying scheduled TV channels, including free ad-supported streaming television, become a distinct authorised service under the Telecommunications Act, 2023.
What happened
- TRAI released recommendations on an Authorisation Framework for Application-based Linear Television Distribution (ALTD) Services, answering an MIB reference of 15 December 2025.
- The reference, under Section 11(1)(a) of the TRAI Act, 1997, sought a framework for Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television (FAST) that ensured parity, content accountability and consumer protection.
- TRAI found apps distributing scheduled linear channels pre-installed on TV sets, as downloadable mobile and smart-TV apps, and in web browsers, and widened the category from FAST to ALTD.
- After a consultation paper on 6 April 2026, 207 comments, 11 counter-comments and an open house on 10 June, it recommends ALTD as a sub-category under Section 3(1)(a) of the Telecommunications Act, 2023.
- The regime is light-touch - a Rs 1 lakh entry fee and no authorisation fee, bank guarantee or security deposit - with obligations on app providers, device makers and operating-system providers.
For Prelims
- TRAI: statutory regulator under the TRAI Act, 1997. Section 11(1)(a) is its recommendatory function - the Government (here the MIB) refers a question, TRAI recommends, and the Government decides.
- ALTD: aggregation of Government-approved linear channels, including internet-native ones, plus the provider's own platform channels, distributed over the public internet through apps, websites or similar interfaces - with or without on-demand value-added content.
- FAST: Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television - the service that triggered the reference; under the recommendation it becomes one kind of ALTD.
- Legal home: a sub-category of Television Channel Distribution Services under Section 3(1)(a) of the Telecommunications Act, 2023; terms to be notified as Rules under Section 56, with authorisation through an online portal.
- Parent statute: the Telecommunications Act, 2023 replaces the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885; TRAI's broader broadcasting-authorisation recommendations under it came on 21 February 2025.
- Terms: national service area · 20-year validity renewable for 10 · Rs 10,000 processing fee · Rs 1 lakh one-time entry fee · no authorisation fee, bank guarantee or security deposit.
- Excluded: broadcaster-owned platforms distributing only their own (or group companies') channels, and live streams on social media intermediaries.
- Other duties: the application provider is the authorised entity and grievance point; MIB keeps a Master ALTD app repository; OEMs and OS providers carry only authorised apps and file an annual compliance report; viewership joins ratings under the TV Ratings Policy, 2026.
For UPSC: TRAI: ALTD, incl. FAST, = new TV distribution sub-category under s.3(1)(a), Telecommunications Act 2023; 20-year authorisation, Rs 1 lakh entry fee, no licence fee. Recommendation only.
What it is NOT: This is not yet law - TRAI recommends and the Ministry decides. Broadcaster-owned platforms carrying only their own channels, and live streams on social-media intermediaries, fall outside it. The release does not say when the MIB will act, what happens to apps already distributing channels in the meantime, or what registering an internet-native channel will involve.
For Mains
Syllabus: GS2.9 · GS2.15 · Linkage L2
Anchor
Regulation is following the schedule, not the pipe. A linear channel - scheduled, broadcast-style programming - is to be treated as television distribution whether it reaches the viewer by cable, satellite or an app on a smart TV.
Substantiation (data)
A recommendation built on a December 2025 reference, an April 2026 consultation, 207 comments, 11 counter-comments and a June open house, setting a 20-year national authorisation at a Rs 1 lakh entry fee with no authorisation fee, bank guarantee or deposit.
Exemplification
A FAST channel pre-installed on a smart TV would need an authorised application provider behind it, and the TV maker and operating-system provider would have to carry only authorised apps and file an annual compliance report with the MIB.
Problematisation
Making device makers and app stores gatekeepers extends regulatory reach to global platforms, and a registration route for 'internet-native' linear channels adds a content-permission layer on the open internet - light-touch on fees, but not on control.
Way-forward
Keep the registration route genuinely simple and time-bound, publish the Master ALTD app repository, and fold ALTD viewership into television ratings quickly so the market is measured as it is.
Position
TRAI's stated aim is a light-touch, future-ready framework for internet-based distribution of linear channels that promotes innovation and ease of doing business alongside consumer protection and regulatory certainty.
Deploys into: Statutory regulatory bodies + governance (GS2.9, GS2.15) · media regulation, platform governance and the authorisation regime under the Telecommunications Act, 2023.
Ministry of Communications · 2026-10-26 · PRID 2328480 · PIB source ↗