Payments for using segment capacity in a transponder for uplinking/downlinking data not taxable

No income deemed to accrue in India from use of satellite outside India to beam TV signals into India even if bulk of revenue arises due to viewers in India. Delhi High Court in the case of Asia Satellite Telecommunications Co. Ltd. v. DIT [201 1-TII-05-HC-DEL-INTL] (Judgement date: 31 January 2011) held that the payments made for using capacity in a transponder for uplinking/down linking data do not constitute ‘royalty’ under the provisions of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (the Act). The High Court held that the customers did not make payments for the use of any process or equipment, since con...