The implementation of conditional access system in Delhi has been deferred till after the assembly elections, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Monday.
However, it will be implemented in the other three metros -- Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata -- as scheduled, he said.
The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and attended by Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh and Delhi BJP leaders Madan Lal Khurana and V K Malhotra.
Prasad told reporters after the meeting that CAS, which was a consumer-friendly measure, had "unnecessarily" become "a case of complex and conflicting political interests and an election issue" in Delhi.
Asked whether its non-implementation in Delhi would adversely affect the government's credibility, Prasad said "there is no question of losing credibility as we are implementing CAS after the elections".
Subscriptions will be Rs 450 in South Delhi
Angry with the government's decision to defer CAS in Delhi, cable operators on Monday threatened to raise subscriptions to over Rs 450 from September 1 in the first zone of the city.
The first zone, which covers South Delhi, is estimated to have 380,000 cable homes and was notified to go under CAS regime from September 1.
"We have been absorbing rising costs of pay channels since January because of the government's assurance of CAS implementation," Vicky Chaudhury of National Cable and Telecom Association said.
He said the decision to raise subscription was taken at a meeting of multi-system operators, including Siticable, InCable and independent operators. In a joint statement, Chaudhury and Roop Sharma of Cable Operators' Federation of India blamed Delhi BJP Chief Madan Lal Khurana for the hike in subscriptions.
He also said Rs 30-40 lakh (Rs 3-4 million) worth of head-end equipment for CAS and inventory for set-top boxes was invested and cable operators had no choice but to recover this from the consumers.
Cable operators will not cover Khurana's political campaign and "boycott" news channels, which show them, the statement said.
With the implementation of CAS being uncertain in Delhi, the demand for set-top boxes had been very low.
He said only around 3,000 subscribers had bought them under an agreement that there would be no refund if the government deferred CAS.