Indian TV channels back despite ban

Indian entertainment channels are back on Pakistani cable channels due to high public demand despite a ban and against the risk of raids and heavy fines by the regulatory authorities.

"The ban on Indian channels has resulted in huge losses to the cable operators," Ahsan Ali, general secretary of the Pakistan Cable Operators Association, told Gulf News. "Many operators are flouting the ban despite the risk because they are popular among their clients," he said.

Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has been conducting raids and imposing fines on the operators for showing Indian channels which were banned following last year's military standoff between the two South Asian nuclear rivals.

But the ban was again harshly enforced since August as local television channels complained that they were losing huge amounts of revenue to their Indian rivals.