NEW DELHI: In a setback for Reliance Industries Ltd–owned streaming platform JioStar, the Supreme Court docket on Tuesday dismissed its plea searching for to halt the Competitors Fee of India’s (CCI) investigation into alleged abuse of dominance and discriminatory pricing in Kerala’s tv distribution market.
A bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Sandeep Mehta stated the matter was at a preliminary stage and that the regulator needs to be allowed to proceed.
“Sorry, dismissed. Let the regulator examine. It is just at a preliminary stage. It is just an investigation,” the bench noticed whereas rejecting the plea.
JioStar had challenged a 3 December 2025 order of the Kerala Excessive Court docket, which refused to remain the CCI probe and directed the regulator to finish its investigation inside eight weeks.
The case stems from a grievance filed by Asianet Digital Community, a serious cable and tv distributor in Kerala. Asianet alleged that JioStar holds a dominant place within the state as a consequence of its management over standard Malayalam leisure channels and unique broadcasting rights for main sporting occasions such because the IPL and worldwide cricket.
Based on Asianet, JioStar abused this dominance by providing preferential and discriminatory reductions to rival Kerala Communicators Cable Ltd (KCCL) whereas denying related phrases to different distributors. Beneath Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) guidelines, broadcasters can supply reductions of as much as 35% and should comply with a non-discriminatory pricing regime.
Asianet claimed that JioStar successfully granted reductions of over 50% to KCCL by means of separate advertising or promotional agreements, which it described as sham preparations.
These agreements, Asianet stated, allowed KCCL to acquire channels at a lot decrease efficient costs, enabling it to supply cheaper packages, appeal to subscribers and native cable operators, and achieve market share, whereas Asianet needed to pay larger charges for a similar content material.
In February 2022, the CCI fashioned a prima facie view that the allegations warranted investigation and directed its director basic to conduct an in depth probe, noting that this didn’t quantity to any discovering of guilt.
JioStar had challenged the CCI order on jurisdictional grounds, arguing that pricing and contractual disputes in broadcasting fall underneath the Trai Act and the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal, and accused Asianet of discussion board purchasing. The CCI had countered that the Competitors Act operates alongside sectoral regulation, and its mandate to look at abuse of market energy isn’t ousted merely as a result of the sector is regulated.
A single decide of the Kerala Excessive Court docket in Could 2025 upheld the CCI’s determination, a view later affirmed by a division bench on 3 December 2025. This prompted JioStar to method the Supreme Court docket, which has now additionally declined to intervene, permitting the CCI investigation to proceed throughout the eight-week timeframe set by the Kerala Excessive Court docket.
JioStar was fashioned in November 2024 following the merger of Reliance’s media enterprise with The Walt Disney Firm’s India operations in an $8.5 billion deal, combining Viacom18 and JioCinema with Star India and Disney+ Hotstar. Reliance holds a controlling stake of about 63%, whereas Disney owns round 36.84%.
Based on JustWatch knowledge for April-June 2025, JioStar’s platform JioHotstar led India’s subscription video-on-demand market with roughly a 25% share, adopted by Amazon Prime Video (23%), Netflix (19%), Apple TV+ (14%), ZEE5 (10%) and Sony LIV (5%).
