New Delhi, June 20: Government could get tough with broadcasters to declare reasonable rates for TV channels as Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today asked Information and Broadcasting Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to ensure the consumer is not hurt in the rollover to the Conditional Access System on July 15. "All options are open", Prasad told reporters after a 20-minute meeting with the Prime Minister when asked whether government was contemplating a ban on advertisements on pay channels.

Prasad, who had met Vajpayee once earlier on the issue, said the Prime Minister asked him today to see that the CAS was in the interest of consumers. He suggested that whatever was needed under the framework of law to ensure this would be done. Bureau Report