After losing arbitration, Nimbus to pay Rs. 328.405 crore to the BCCI

Nimbus Communications Limited has lost a five-year long arbitration with the Indian cricket board and will now have to cough up a sum of INR 328.405 crores. Nimbus was the former broadcast rights holder of Indian cricket before Star TV took over in 2012.

Justice BP Jeevan Reddy, Justice AS Anand and co-arbitrator Justice SP Kurudkar who were part of the arbitral tribunal, awarded the arbitration in favour of the BCCI and have directed Nimbus to pay the sum “towards unpaid right fees for matches in respect for which Nimbus had already exploited the media rights under the MRLA”.

Nimbus has also been asked to pay an additional amount of Rs 25 lakh as costs within two months from the date of the award. The award was given out last week, and Nimbus will have a period of two months to make the said payment. They will also have to add an interest of 9% per annum alongside the massive amount, from 18 August 2012 till realisation.

The adjudication said, “The Arbitral Tribunal also dismissed all the counterclaims put forward by Nimbus.”

The BCCI was represented by its regular law firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, who now works on a full-time basis with the Indian cricket board. CEO of the law firm Rahul Johri has been coordinating matters for a while now with the BCCI. Back in 2012, Nimbus had filed three arbitration claims against BCCI after the BCCI decided to terminate its contract for broadcast rights in 2011.

Primarily a sports broadcaster, Nimbus Communications Limited is known for its channels Neo Cricket and Neo Sports. Established in 1987, Nimbus has its headquarters in Mumbai. In 2006, the company had won a four-year global media rights with the BCCI at a whopping Rs. 2,714 crore.

Up until 2012, Neo Cricket used to broadcast most cricket matches played in India. However, since the BCCI terminated its contract, Star Sports has been telecasting matches played in India.