Islamabad: Pakistan's electronic media watchdog ordered local cable TV operators across the nation over to quit broadcasting Indian stations, cautioning that severe moves would be made assuming they were found abusing its requests.
According to the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) mentioned in a statement several operators in the past were found violating the rules set in place by it and the Supreme Court.
Pemra ordered its regional offices to conduct enforcement drives on reports of violations by cable operators who were airing Indian channels. “No channel other than Pemra licensee would be allowed for distribution on cable TV networks and any operator found defying the orders henceforth would be dealt with strictly in accordance with the PEMRA law,” the authority said.
The Karachi regional office conducted surprise inspections in various areas and raided cable operators.
The statement stated that similar raids were conducted in Sindh’s Hyderabad and Punjab’s Multan region by the PEMRA enforcement teams and they confiscated illegal equipment and show cause notices were issued to the violators.