Dish TV hit with fresh fines by BSE, NSE over weak board composition

Amid years of boardroom tussles and repeated shareholder rejections, Dish TV has once again been fined Rs 11.38 lakh by stock exchanges for non-compliance with SEBI’s listing norms on board strength and quorum.

New Delhi: Direct-to-home operator Dish TV has been penalised again by leading bourses BSE and National Stock Exchange (NSE) over composition and lack of quorum on its board, according to a regulatory filing by the company.

Dish TV, which has been embroiled in a tussle at the board level for the last few years among its promoters, was fined by the bourses in 2023 and 2024 for the same reason.

It has received a latest notice on August 29 from the bourses, wherein a fine has been imposed on the company, for non-compliance of Regulations 17(1) and 19 (1)/(2) of the Sebi (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 ('Listing Regulations'), for the quarter ended June 30.

"The above-mentioned non-compliances in respect to reduction in the board strength was on account of non-approval of shareholders for the appointment of directors and that the same was beyond the control of the board or the company," Dish TV said.

Moreover, the company has also been advised by the bourses to "inform the promoters about the non-compliance and place the said communication before the board at its next meeting" and the comments made by the board shall be informed to the exchange.

Both the NSE and the BSE have imposed fines of Rs 5.69 lakh each on Dish TV for violation of listing rules and has directed it to pay within 15 days from the date of the stock exchange communication.

Dish TV said it "shall be making the payment of the fines as levied on the company" and added that "there is no impact on financial, operational or other activities of the company, other than the monetary fine amount payable".

As per the information available on the Dish TV portal, its board consists of seven persons. They include its Executive Director-Chairperson-CEO Manoj Dobhal, four independent directors, CFO, and the company secretary.

Subhash Chandra's family-led promoter and promoter group holds around 4 per cent share and was in a tussle with YES Bank over the reconstitution of the board.

YBL, which was earlier Dish TV's largest shareholder, has sold its 24.2 per cent in the company to JC Flowers Asset Reconstruction Pvt Ltd.

Over the past few occasions, Dish TV shareholders have jostled down the company's proposals to approve new appointments on the board in the EGM.

On three previous occasions, shareholders had rejected several proposals, including the re-appointment of Jawahar Lal Goel as the managing director in June 2022 and the adoption of financial statements for 2020-21 (Apr-Mar) and 2021-22 in September 2022.