New Delhi, Sep 02: Amid reports from Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai suggesting large-scale confusion over roll out of the Conditional Access System (CAS) from Monday, it appeared that CAS will still take time to be implemented. While the Government had decided to defer the implementation of CAS in Delhi till the Assembly polls, in Mumbai, CAS is likely to be implemented after the Ganpati festival is over in about 10 days.
In Kolkata, its implementation has been stalled following the State Government's protests that certain clarifications were needed with regards to policy directives. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said it would answer all issues raised by West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and also by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
According to industry sources, multi-system operators are apparently ready to launch CAS in certain areas of South Mumbai but officials in the I&B Ministry said, Mumbai would probably see have CAS after the Ganpati festival is over. Meanwhile in Delhi, the Cable Operators Federation of India send a letter to additional secretary in the I&B Ministry, Vijay Singh saying that since CAS was not being implemented here, cable subscription rates would go up to Rs 500 per month. Federation president Roop Sharma said broadcasters were charging steep rates for pay channels and therefore unless the Centre wants to encourage "under-declaration" there was no way but to charge Rs 500 from subscribers in the city.