Ministry of Communications press release · 10 March 2026 · pibtracker filter

TRAI issues the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Digital Addressable Systems Audit Manual, 2026

PRID2237703 MinistryMinistry of Communications Released10 March 2026 Reading9 min

Posted On: 10 MAR 2026 5:39PM by PIB Delhi The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has today issued the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Digital Addressable Systems Audit Manual, 2026. During various interactions with the Authority, the stakeholders had highlighted the need for: i. improving audit related provisions in the Interconnection Regulations 2017 (as amended) and the audit manual, ii. reducing repetitive audits of DPOs, resulting in resource wastage, operational disruption, and diminished stakeholders' confidence in the audit process, iii. incorporating provisions related to infrastructure sharing in the audit framework, and iv. enhancing the accountability of auditors and categorising auditors based on their experience to ensure credibility of auditors. To enhance accountability and credibility of audit process, technical proficiency requirements, categorisation of auditors based on their experience and enhanced accountability provisions have been incorporated into the Expression of Interest (EOI) document issued by TRAI on 26 th August 2025 for empanelment of auditors. Further, to address the issues related to audit framework, TRAI had issued a consultation paper on 'Audit related provisions of Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Interconnection (Addressable Systems) Regulations, 2017 and the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Digital Addressable Systems Audit Manual' on 9 th August 2024 for seeking comments of the stakeholders. 64 comments and 03 counter comments were received from the stakeholders, which were placed on TRAI’s website. An Open House Discussion (OHD) was held on 5 th December 2024. Subsequently, TRAI had notified the ‘Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Interconnection (Addressable Systems) (Seventh Amendment) Regulations, 2026’ on 5 th February 2026 (hereinafter referred to as the “Seventh Amendment Regulations”). After duly considering all the comments and counter-comments received from the stakeholders in response to the consultation paper, Seventh Amendment Regulations notified on 5 th February 2026 and its own analysis, the Authority has finalized the ‘Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Digital Addressable Systems Audit Manual, 2026’ and shall come into force from 1 st April 2026. The Audit Manual will be a guidance document for the audit process and lays down detailed instructions. The manual does not supersede any provision of the extant regulations. The Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Digital Addressable Systems Audit Manual, 2026, is available on TRAI's website www.trai.gov.in . For any clarification/information, Dr. Deepali Sharma, Advisor (B&CS), TRAI, may be contacted at email ID: advbcs-2@trai.gov.in or Telephone +91-11-20907774 . **** MI/ARJ (Release ID: 2237703) Visitor Counter : 604 Read this release in: Urdu , हिन्दी Ministry of Communications TRAI issues the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Digital Addressable Systems Audit Manual, 2026 Posted On: 10 MAR 2026 5:39PM by PIB Delhi The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has today issued the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Digital Addressable Systems Audit Manual, 2026. During various interactions with the Authority, the stakeholders had highlighted the need for: i. improving audit related provisions in the Interconnection Regulations 2017 (as amended) and the audit manual, ii. reducing repetitive audits of DPOs, resulting in resource wastage, operational disruption, and diminished stakeholders' confidence in the audit process, iii. incorporating provisions related to infrastructure sharing in the audit framework, and iv. enhancing the accountability of auditors and categorising auditors based on their experience to ensure credibility of auditors. To enhance accountability and credibility of audit process, technical proficiency requirements, categorisation of auditors based on their experience and enhanced accountability provisions have been incorporated into the Expression of Interest (EOI) document issued by TRAI on 26 th August 2025 for empanelment of auditors. Further, to address the issues related to audit framework, TRAI had issued a consultation paper on 'Audit related provisions of Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Interconnection (Addressable Systems) Regulations, 2017 and the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Digital Addressable Systems Audit Manual' on 9 th August 2024 for seeking comments of the stakeholders. 64 comments and 03 counter comments were received from the stakeholders, which were placed on TRAI’s website. An Open House Discussion (OHD) was held on 5 th December 2024. Subsequently, TRAI had notified the ‘Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Interconnection (Addressable Systems) (Seventh Amendment) Regulations, 2026’ on 5 th February 2026 (hereinafter referred to as the “Seventh Amendment Regulations”). After duly considering all the comments and counter-comments received from the stakeholders in response to the consultation paper, Seventh Amendment Regulations notified on 5 th February 2026 and its own analysis, the Authority has finalized the ‘Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Digital Addressable Systems Audit Manual, 2026’ and shall come into force from 1 st April 2026. The Audit Manual will be a guidance document for the audit process and lays down detailed instructions. The manual does not supersede any provision of the extant regulations. The Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Digital Addressable Systems Audit Manual, 2026, is available on TRAI's website www.trai.gov.in . For any clarification/information, Dr. Deepali Sharma, Advisor (B&CS), TRAI, may be contacted at email ID: advbcs-2@trai.gov.in or Telephone +91-11-20907774 . **** MI/ARJ (Release ID: 2237703) The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has today issued the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Digital Addressable Systems Audit Manual, 2026. During various interactions with the Authority, the stakeholders had highlighted the need for: i.     improving audit related provisions in the Interconnection Regulations 2017 (as amended) and the audit manual, ii.    reducing repetitive audits of DPOs, resulting in resource wastage, operational disruption, and diminished stakeholders' confidence in the audit process, iii.   incorporating provisions related to infrastructure sharing in the audit framework, and iv.   enhancing the accountability of auditors and categorising auditors based on their experience to ensure credibility of auditors. To enhance accountability and credibility of audit process, technical proficiency requirements, categorisation of auditors based on their experience and enhanced accountability provisions have been incorporated into the Expression of Interest (EOI) document issued by TRAI on 26th August 2025 for empanelment of auditors. Further, to address the issues related to audit framework, TRAI had issued a consultation paper on 'Audit related provisions of Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Interconnection (Addressable Systems) Regulations, 2017 and the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Digital Addressable Systems Audit Manual' on 9th August 2024 for seeking comments of the stakeholders.  64 comments and 03 counter comments were received from the stakeholders, which were placed on TRAI’s website. An Open House Discussion (OHD) was held on 5th December 2024. Subsequently, TRAI had notified the ‘Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Interconnection (Addressable Systems) (Seventh Amendment) Regulations, 2026’ on 5th February 2026 (hereinafter referred to as the “Seventh Amendment Regulations”). After duly considering all the comments and counter-comments received from the stakeholders in response to the consultation paper, Seventh Amendment Regulations notified on 5th February 2026 and its own analysis, the Authority has finalized the ‘Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Digital Addressable Systems Audit Manual, 2026’ and shall come into force from 1st April 2026. The Audit Manual will be a guidance document for the audit process and lays down detailed instructions. The manual does not supersede any provision of the extant regulations. The Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Digital Addressable Systems Audit Manual, 2026, is available on TRAI's website <a href="http://www.trai.gov.in">www.trai.gov.in</a>. For any clarification/information, Dr. Deepali Sharma, Advisor (B&CS), TRAI, may be contacted at email ID: <a href="mailto:advbcs-2@trai.gov.in">advbcs-2@trai.gov.in</a> or Telephone +91-11-20907774. **** MI/ARJ " /> var mPlayer = document.getElementById("background_music"); var mPlayAction = document.getElementById("playbutton"); var isPlaying = false; function playAudio() { mPlayer.play(); isPlaying = true; document.getElementById('stopA').style.display = "block"; document.getElementById('playA').style.display = "none"; } function pauseAudio() { mPlayer.pause(); isPlaying = false; document.getElementById('playA').style.display = "block"; document.getElementById('stopA').style.display = "none"; } //function HandleAudio() { // if (isPlaying == true) { // //Playing already Pause it // pauseAudio(); // } else { // //Play the music // playAudio(); // } //} var synth = window.speechSynthesis; function CleanHtml(html) { html = html.replace(/ /gi, ''); return html; } function stripHtml(html) { let tmp = document.createElement("DIV"); tmp.innerHTML = CleanHtml(html); return tmp.textContent || tmp.innerText || ""; } $(document).ready(function () { //for responsive tables $("table").each(function () { if (!$(this).closest(".table-responsive").length) { $(this).wrap(" "); } }); var width = $(window).width(); if (width $(document).ready(function () { var width = $(window).width(); if (width @media print { .sticky-social, .sticky-social_mb, .pull-right, #printPDF { display: none !important; } } .f_vl { padding-right: 30px; font-size: 17px; cursor: pointer; } .log_oo { // width: 20%; display: flex; justify-content: space-between; } .log_oo img { width: 150px; /*width: 100%; height: auto;*/ } .sticky-social_mb { position: fixed; bottom: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width: 100%; } .social_mb { list-style: none; display: flex; width: 100%; margin-bottom: -8px; } .social_mb a { padding: 8px 0px; font-size: 30px; transition: all 0.8s ease-in-out; width: 20% !important; text-align: center; } .section1 { position: relative; padding: 10px 0px; width: 100%; } .sticky-social { position: fixed; top: 20px; left: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; } .social { list-style: none; } .social a li { padding: 8px 12px; font-size: 25px; transition: all 0.8s ease-in-out; } .social a li:hover { margin-right: -30px; box-shadow: 2px 5px 10px grey; } .social a li:hover .fa { margin-left: 20px; } .fb_b { /* background-color: rgb(59, 89, 152);*/ background-color: rgba(65,103,178,255); } .twitter_r { /* background-color: rgb(29, 161, 242);*/ background-color: #000000; } .whatsapp_r { /* background-color: rgb(77, 194, 71);*/ background-color: rgba(13,191,67,255); } .fa-envelope_r { /* background-color: rgb(219, 68, 55);*/ background-color: #e2123d; } .fa-linkedin_r { background-color: rgb(0, 119, 181); } @media only screen and (max-device-width: 767px) { p span img { max-width: 90% !important; height: auto !important; } p img { max-width: 90% !important; height: auto !important; } h2 { font-size: 20px !important; font-weight: 600 !important; } h3 { font-size: 18px !important; font-weight: 600 !important; } } /* === Film Roll Badge Styling(IFFI2025 countdown) === */ .film-roll-badge { position: absolute; top:82%; right: 20px; width: 230px; height: 70px; background: repeating-linear-gradient( to right, #9a2375 0px, #9a2375 18px, #6e2b8b 18px, #6e2b8b 36px ); border-top: 8px solid #9a2375; border-bottom: 8px solid #9a2375; border-radius: 8px; overflow: hidden; box-shadow: 0 4px 12px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4); animation: moveFilm 8s linear infinite; z-index: 10; } /* film sprocket holes */ .film-roll-badge::before, .film-roll-badge::after { content: ""; position: absolute; width: 100%; height: 10px; background: repeating-linear-gradient( to right, #9a2375 0px, #9a2375 10px, #fff 10px, #fff 20px ); left: 0; z-index: 2; } .film-roll-badge::before { top: -4px; } .film-roll-badge::after { bottom: -4px; } .film-roll-inner { position: relative; height: 100%; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center; animation: flicker 2s infinite ease-in-out; } .countdown-text { font-size: 1.3rem; font-weight: 700; color: #fff; text-shadow: 0 0 6px rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.4), 0 0 10px #000; white-space: nowrap; } /* === Animations === */ @keyframes moveFilm { 0% { background-position: 0 0; } 100% { background-position: 120px 0; } } @keyframes flicker { 0%, 100% { opacity: 1; } 50% { opacity: 0.9; } 25% { opacity: 0.95; } 75% { opacity: 0.85; } } /* === Responsive Adjustments === */ @media (max-width: 1500px) { .film-roll-badge { top: 68%; right: 18px; /* width: 220px; */ height: 65px; font-size: 0.85rem; } .press-section { margin-top: 35px; } } @media (max-width: 992px) { .film-roll-badge { top: 52%; right: 10px; width: 200px; height: 60px; } } @media (max-width: 768px) { .film-roll-badge { top: 56%; right: 10px; width: 124px; height: 55px; } .countdown-text { font-size: 0.9rem; } } @media (max-width: 576px) { .film-roll-badge { top: 59%; right: 5px; /* width: 160px; */ height: 50px; } .countdown-text { font-size: 0.85rem; } } const festivalStart = new Date("2025-11-20T00:00:00").getTime(); const festivalEnd = new Date("2025-11-28T23:59:59").getTime(); const countdownElement = document.getElementById("countdown"); const interval = setInterval(() => { const now = new Date().getTime(); // BEFORE FESTIVAL — show days + hours left if (now = festivalStart && now el.style.width = "350px"); clearInterval(interval); } }, 1000); //

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TRAI issues the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Digital Addressable Systems Audit Manual, 2026

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