NEW DELHI: The Association of Radio Operators for India ( AROI ), representing private FM radio broadcasters, in an appeal to PM Narendra Modi said if the government did not step in with urgent financial assistance to the radio industry, many private FM channels would be forced to go off air.The AROI representation said the FM radio industry was among the worst-hit sectors, and would find it difficult to remain operational without ramped up government advertising spend, and waivers of licence and other fees for the next one year.The association said while it appreciated the three-month moratorium on payment of licence fees granted to it by the I&B ministry, this was only a temporary help and was not a lasting solution for the financial crisis being faced by FM broadcasters in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.In the April 24 letter to the PM, AROI also said FM networks operated across 107 cities and on nearly 370 broadcast stations, most of them dependent on government advertising. The association demanded that the government increase its ad spend on radio channels and bring them to normal levels, apart from settling all pending payments due to broadcasters.So far, the only concession granted by the I&B ministry has been postponement of payment of quarterly licence fee to July 15 without levying any penal interest. However, industry sources said this was a very small step, and what companies actually needed was a waiver of licence and other fees for one year to remain afloat, as well as a reduction in GST rates from the current 18% to 5%.In the letter to the PM, AROI president Anuradha Prasad emphasised the crucial role radio broadcast services have played in crisis situations like the Chennai floods, Odisha cyclones as well as in popularising government-run Mission Indradhanush. Referring to Modi as ‘mahanayak’, Prasad said he was only the second person in India after Mahatma Gandhi , and the first in the world, to understand the power and reach of radio and use it for his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ broadcasts.