Undeterred by the Conditional Access System chaos, the Union Cabinet on Thursday resolved to go ahead with its staggered rollout from September 1, even as it decided to hold further consultations on some legislative proposals to rein in the broadcasters.
"The Cabinet resolved that there should be no roll-back of CAS. The government is firm on its implementation in the manner mapped out by the ministry...The Cabinet was unanimous on this," Information and Broadcasting Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters after a meeting of the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in New Delhi.
Both Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani said at the meeting that CAS would be implemented, according to the sources.
Though Prasad parried questions on whether an ordinance was on the government's agenda, he said there were some informal discussions on the proposals to amend the Cable Act in a bid to regulate the broadcasters.
The Cabinet took a view that one or two proposals needed more legal consultations.
The government has been toying with proposals like limiting advertisements on pay channels, putting a cap on pay channel rates and preventing the bundling of channels.