JioStar moves Supreme Court against CCI probe over alleged abuse of dominance in Kerala TV market

New Delhi: Reliance Industries-owned streaming platform JioStar has moved the Supreme Court against the Competition Commission of India (CCI) probe into allegations of abuse of dominance and discriminatory pricing in Kerala’s television distribution market.

The company has challenged the Kerala High Court’s order dated December 3, 2025, which refused to stay CCI’s investigation and directed the regulator to complete it within eight weeks.

A bench headed by Justice JB Pardiwala will hear JioStar’s appeal on Tuesday, January 27.

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The case stems from a complaint by Asianet Digital Network, a leading cable and TV distributor in Kerala. Asianet claimed that JioStar has a dominant position in the state as it controls many popular Malayalam entertainment channels and has exclusive rights to major sporting events such as IPL and international cricket.

Asianet alleged that JioStar abused this position by offering preferential and discriminatory discounts to rival Kerala Communicators Cable Ltd (KCCL), while denying similar terms to other distributors.

According to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) rules, broadcasters are allowed to discount only up to 35% and must adhere to a non-discriminatory pricing regime. However, Asianet alleged that JioStar gave more than 50% discount to KCCL by diverting the money through separate marketing or promotional deals.

According to Asianet, these marketing arrangements were a fraud used to return money to KCCL, giving it much lower effective channel prices. Allegedly, this cost advantage allowed KCCL to offer cheaper packages, attract subscribers and local cable operators and gain market share, while Asianet had to pay higher prices for the same content.

After examining the complaint, CCI found a prima facie case in February 2022 and instructed its director general to conduct a detailed investigation. The regulator clarified that this was only a preliminary step and did not amount to any finding of guilt against JioStar.

Judicial grounds

JioStar challenged the CCI’s decision before the high court, mainly on jurisdictional grounds, arguing that the dispute pertained to pricing and contractual issues governed by the Trai Act and the Broadcasting Regulations, 2017.

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JioStar said the CCI should not intervene as disputes between broadcasters and distributors fall within the jurisdiction of regulator Trai and the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal. The company also accused Asianet of forum shopping by bypassing the telecom regulator.

However, the CCI argued that the Competition Act continues to apply even in regulated sectors and that its role in scrutinizing abuse of market power is not ignored simply because another regulator oversees the industry.

In May 2025, a single judge of the Kerala High Court upheld the CCI’s inquiry order, stating that competition law was applicable alongside sectoral regulations and that the existence of Trai did not preclude an investigation into allegations of abuse of dominant position and discriminatory pricing.

The court said CCI’s order is only a preliminary step and JioStar can raise all its objections before the regulator during the investigation.

JioStar’s appeal was later dismissed by a division bench of the Kerala High Court on December 3, 2025; This decision agreed with the single judge, allowing CCI’s investigation in the Kerala market to continue. This led JioStar to approach the Supreme Court.

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JioStar was founded in November 2024 after Reliance Industries merged its media business with The Walt Disney Company’s India operations in a deal valued at around $8.5 billion.

The joint venture brought together Viacom18 and JioCinema with Star India and Disney+ Hotstar. While Reliance holds a controlling stake of about 63%, Disney holds about 36.84%, giving Reliance management control of the company.

JioHotstar, JioStar’s streaming platform, led India’s subscription video-on-demand market with a share of around 25%, according to data from JustWatch for the April-June quarter 2025. This was followed by Amazon Prime Video with approximately 23%, Netflix with 19%, Apple TV+ with approximately 14%, ZEE5 with 10% and Sony LIV with 5%. Other platforms combined made up the remaining 4%.

Email queries sent to Reliance Industries seeking their response remained unanswered at the time of publication.