Navjot Sidhu alleges Capt stalled his proposed law which would have ended Fastway monopoly

Tribune Web Desk

Chandigarh, November 25

Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu’s tirade against Fastway, the company that allegedly came to enjoy monopoly over the cable TV business in the state during the Badal government, and former chief minister Capt Amrinder Singh continued on Thursday.

In a series of tweets, he wrote: “5 yrs ago, I put forward policy to get rid of Multi Systems Operator- Fastway's monopoly, to recover 1000s of crores taxes, empower local operators & give cheap cable to people… without necessary action against fastway, it is erroneous to suggest solution of Punjab’s cable woes.”

5 yrs ago, I put forward policy to get rid of Multi Systems Operator- Fastway's monopoly, to recover 1000s of crores taxes, empower local operators & give cheap cable to people… without necessary action against fastway, it is erroneous to suggest solution of Punjab’s cable woes

— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) November 25, 2021

In another tweet, he said: “Take away the cause & effect will seize! In 2017 I proposed a new law to recover stolen state taxes from fastway by taking control over computers & data hidden by fastway monopoly. It would have freed the cable operators from clutches of this monopoly and filled state coffers!!”, adding that: “Fastway has 3-4 times TV connections than data it is sharing with govt. Badals made laws to protect its monopoly... @capt_amarinder stalled my proposed law which would have ended fastway monopoly, got revenue for state per connection & reduced TV cable prices for people to half.”

Take away the cause & effect will seize! In 2017 I proposed a new law to recover stolen state taxes from fastway by taking control over computers & data hidden by fastway monopoly. It would have freed the cable operators from clutches of this monopoly and filled state coffers!!

— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) November 25, 2021

Fastway has 3-4 times TV connections than data it is sharing with govt. Badals made laws to protect its monopoly... @capt_amarinder stalled my proposed law which would have ended fastway monopoly, got revenue for state per connection & reduced TV cable prices for people to half

— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) November 25, 2021

Sidhu has time and again been raising the issue of tax evasion by Fastway.

He had earlier also showed an order of the Competition Commission of India dated July 2012, which said the conduct of the Fastway group “has not only resulted in harm to the consumers but also to the TV industry as a whole by depriving them access to the relevant market”.

Showing the Fastway dominance, Sidhu had showed a TRAI letter, which pointed out that at one point of time out of the total 24.4 lakh set top boxes in the state, 21.5 lakh belonged to Fastway Transmissions, 1.75 lakh to Hathway and 32,000 to others.

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