It has taken merely a month for two amicable business partners to turn into squabbling, bitter rivals.

STAR India, the country?s leading broadcaster, had terminated its contract with Indian Cable Net for the distribution of its bouquet of channels in March. Now, the company is accusing Indian Cable Net of outstandings and threatening to withdraw beam from its network in June.

?Indian Cable Net owes us over Rs 10 crore,? alleged a spokesperson for STAR. ?As per the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) directive, we have issued a public notice in two newspapers offering them a month?s time. If payments are not made by then, we will have to switch off the bouquet.?

Indian Cable Net doubles as a multi-system operator, serving around 35 per cent of the cable and satellite homes in the CMDA area. ?There are outstandings,? admitted a spokesperson for Indian Cable Net. ?However, around 70 per cent of the amount is due from other MSOs, who are refusing to pay us for STAR since we are no longer their distributor. Also, sections of the market have not accepted various hikes imposed by the broadcaster since 2002.?

For STAR, the explanations are not enough. ?We had entered into a minimum-guarantee agreement with Indian Cable Net, which means that irrespective of whether they are able to raise the money from the ground or not, they must pay us,? the STAR spokesperson offered.

Indian Cable Net also claims to have offered a one-time settlement amount of around Rs 6.75 crore, including its own arrears. ?STAR also refused to accept the payments we tried to make for April,? Indian Cable Net alleged.

The feud has reached the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal, which is currently hearing the case.

Indian Cable Net, then called RPG Netcom, had picked up the distributorship of STAR and Sony channels in September 2003. Besides gaining better control over the chaotic cable market, the move was also aimed at reigning in ?rogue? cable operators and stem under-declaration.