Treading cautiously, the government on Monday said that it was toying with the idea of 'dual feed' for a smooth roll over to the conditional access system for television channels from July 15.
'Dual feed' means keeping the option open for watching the pay TV channels without set top boxes during the transitory phase for a smooth roll over.
An indication to this effect was given by Information and Broadcasting Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad after a series of meetings with the broadcasters and officials.
Stating that the CAS was being implemented on July 15 as scheduled, Prasad told reporters that suggestions for 'dual feed' and 'twilight zone' have been made and these were being examined by the government.
"We are making it consumer-friendly so as to ensure that there are no blank-outs," he said, adding that the scheme would be implemented from July 15 and the government was working out a mechanism for it.
Prasad said broadcasters assured him that they would keep freeze on current rates of pay channels for six months.
However, the rates for pay channels under the CAS regime could not be finalised at the meeting.
'Centre's move impracticable: operators'
Multi-system operators and cable operators have said the Centre's move not to make set top boxes mandatory even after launch of the conditional access system from July 15 was 'impracticable' and would only lead to 'more confusion.'
"How can you apply different standards for pay channel viewers? We fail to understand whether the government is serious about implementing CAS in letter and spirit," chief of prominent Kolkata-based MSO Manthan, Sudip Ghosh said.
Such a move, he said, would lead to more confusion in the cable TV sector and could lead to agitation by cable operators who might not want to be part of CAS and raise demands like a substantial hike in subscription rates.
Hinting that the Centre's move might be prompted more by political reasons, Ghosh said: "After deliberating over the whole issue for more than two years and forming a national task force to look into the nitty-gritty of the system, suddenly some politicians have woken up to the issue."
Baldev Shaw of Third Eye Cable Service said it was not possible to broadcast pay channel programmes for both set-top box and non-set-top box viewers.
"What is to be done if viewers, who have already paid for set top boxes, demand waiver of their monthly rental till they get the boxes. We and not the MSOs, channels or government will be the target of ire of a section of viewers in such circumstances," he said.
"We want CAS to be introduced fully as envisaged. If that is not possible we will be forced to hike the monthly subscription rate by another Rs 100 after July 15. If our interest is not looked into we are also ready for an agitation," spokesman of Kolkata-based Cable Operators Sangram Committee Tarak Saha said.
The average cable subscription rate in Kolkata is around Rs 200 at present.
Both Ghosh and Saha criticised the West Bengal government for its letter to the Centre which advocated maintaining status quo in implementing the CAS till all relevant issues were sorted out.
"It is unfathomable why the state government did not sort out these 'relevant' issues or inform the task force representative from the region about its stand earlier. The task force came into being two years back," Ghosh said.
A spokesman of SitiCable, another leading MSO, said the Centre should not be fobbed off by some political parties and channels, which did not wish to see CAS being implemented.
"While we feel there can be initial hiccups on set-top box delivery in the four metros due to logistical reasons, no decision should be taken which might defeat the very purpose of procuring set-top boxes and affect the cause of CAS," the spokesman said.
When asked why a viewer should be asked to buy a set-top box priced between Rs 2,200-3,500, the spokesman said arrangements would be made for procuring the boxes on installment.
The chief executive officer of RPG Netcom Dilip Sen said the imbroglio needed to be sorted out immediately as MSOs like RPG Netcom were ready with their set-top boxes.
Sen, who maintained that the consumer did not see CAS as a problem, felt those not having set-top boxes in the post-CAS scenario would still be able to watch a minimum of 30 free-to-air channels at less than Rs 100.
They could place their demand for set-top boxes even after July 15 with the MSO through the cable operator which would not take much time to be delivered, he said.
Sen expressed hope that CAS would come into force in letter and spirit from July 15 and said they would adhere to the guidelines of the information and broadcasting ministry.
Spokesman of Cable Viewers Forum Monimoy Saha said while any move to benefit viewers economically should be of paramount interest, it should also be kept in mind that the MSOs and cable operators were businessmen.