Indian telco Bharti may have its licence to operate DTH services suspended by the government amid concerns over whether its ownership structure meets the country’s regulations. 

Bharti’s ownership is under investigation on two fronts – whether it meets cross-media ownership rules and whether it exceeds foreign direct investment (FDI) limits. The company needs to obtain approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) before it can launch its planned platform.

But Bharti claims that the company's ownership structures are within Indian government limits.

While the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issued Bharti’s media arm Bharti Telemedia with a show-cause notice last month, reports say the government has been unhappy with Bharti’s response. Bharti Telemedia has two investing companies, Bharti Airtel which owns 40% and Bharti Enterprises. Bharti Airtel has a foreign holding of 21.64%. FDI components of DTH operators must be under 20%.

Approval from the FIPB is now urgent as the company has already soft-launched its DTH platform and plans a commercial launch next month.

Bharti Airtel also has a licence to operate cable TV services, but cable operators cannot own more than 20% of DTH operators.