According to a recent update on October 24, the developer claimed that an executive from Reliance, identified as Ambujesh Yadav, Assistant Vice President of Commercials, contacted him regarding the domain. The techie explained that he requested £93,345—the tuition cost of an Executive MBA (EMBA) program—but his proposal was declined. He alleged that Yadav not only dismissed the request but also warned him of impending legal action.

“An executive from Reliance reached out—Ambujesh Yadav Ji, AVP, Commercials. I made a request for £93,345, representing the tuition fees for my EMBA program, which was denied,” the techie wrote. “Reliance has made it clear that they will proceed with legal action. I hope they will reconsider this request. I wish such a large organization could provide support. Thank you to everyone who shared and sent words of encouragement. I don’t have the power to stand against Reliance,” he added.

Facing the potential of losing the domain, the developer reportedly reached out to legal professionals for assistance, maintaining that he had not infringed on any trademarks. He noted that the domain was purchased in 2023, before any merger between Jio and Disney+ Hotstar had taken place, making it legally unclaimed at the time. “I didn’t violate any trademark when I acquired it in 2023. No one had a trademark for ‘JioHotstar’ back then. If any legal professionals can help, I would be grateful,” he appealed.

The techie reportedly bought the domain with the hope that Reliance would eventually secure a merger with Disney+ Hotstar, inspired by Reliance’s past acquisition of the music streaming service Saavn, which they rebranded as ‘JioSaavn.’ In a statement, he described the chain of events that led to his domain purchase:

“I came across news indicating that Disney+ Hotstar was seeing a drop in daily active users after losing the IPL streaming rights and was considering a sale or merger with an Indian company. With Sony and Zee exploring their own merger, Reliance’s Viacom18 seemed the only remaining company with the capacity to buy Disney+ Hotstar. This reminded me of how Jio rebranded Saavn after acquiring it, turning Saavn.com into JioSaavn.com. I thought, if they acquire Hotstar, they might rename it to JioHotstar.com,” he explained.

He concluded by sharing his personal aspirations: “My intention in buying this domain was simple—if the merger happened, I might be able to fulfill my dream of studying at Cambridge,” signing off as “A Dreamer.”