Supreme Court Dismisses JioStar's Challenge To CCI Probe On Alleged Abuse Of Dominance In Kerala Cable TV Market

The Supreme Court today(January 27) dismissed a challenge made by Jiostar Private Limited against the Kerala High Court's order holding that the allegations of abusing dominance in the Kerala television industry must be looked into by the Competition Commission of India.

Asianet Digital Network Limited(ADNPL) has accused Jiostar of abusing its dominance in the television broadcasting space in Kerala in contravention of the Competition Act, 2002, by providing discriminatory discounting payments and preferential treatment to Kerala Communicators Cable Limited (KCCL).

A bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Sandeep Mehta refused to interfere, stating that the investigation is at the preliminary stage.

At the outset, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohagti(for Jiostar) submitted that Jiostar is bound under the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997(TRAI), which fixes how much it can charge or give a discount. "Question is, can you investigate in relation to a matter covered by the sectoral regulator. There is a judgment of the Bombay High Court in my favour."

However, Justice Pardiwala remarked that the investigation is at a preliminary stage and the Court will not interfere. "It needs to be looked into, Mr Rohatgi," Justice Pardiwala said.

Jiostar(formerly known as Star India Private Limited), stated to be one of the largest broadcasters in India's television broadcasting industry, has challenged the Kerala High Court's order dated December 3, 2025, whereby the High Court affirmed the Single Judge's order refusing to stay the investigation by the Competition Commission of India(CCI) into the allegations of violations of the Competition Act, 2002.

The CCI directed the Director General to cause an investigation to be made into the complaints filed by ADNPL, a digital TV service provider, against Jiostar and its subsidiaries for allegedly discriminatory pricing and excessive discounting to KCCL, to whom discounting arrangements have been provided. It was alleged that due to the preferential treatment of KCCL, ADNPL suffered migration of its subscriber base, which fell steeply within a short span of 5-6 months.

The dispute emanated after the enactment of the TRAI Regulation, 2017, wherein a maximum retail price was prescribed for each paid channel. Regulations 3(2), 7(3), and 7(4) mandate that broadcasters not provide the cumulative discounts of more than 35% to any distributor. However, ADNPL alleged that a special discount of more than 50% were offered by Jiostar to KCCL.

These discounts were stated to have been offered in the form of promotional and advertisement payments to KCCL by the introduction of test channels on which promotional content and advertisements were to run round the clock, with payments being made to KCCL by Jiostar.

Case Details: JIOSTAR INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED v COMPETITION COMMISSION OF INDIA AND ORS. |SLP(C) No. 2867/2026