The government will fix a maximum retail price to keep overall monthly costs of cable television under control, as the conditional access system is all set to roll out in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.
Government's meetings with the broadcasters, multi-system operators, cable operators and consumer bodies have been successful and a consensus route on CAS rollout is nearly through, official sources said.
When the new arrangement is formalised and notified, the government may give a 220 day transition period during which implementation work will begin, including providing set-top boxes to consumers, tariff announcements by channels and awareness campaigns to highlight the benefits of the new content delivery system.
As per the broad contours being finalised, the government will fix MRP over which no broadcaster can price any individual channel. This will be done to ensure that the actual price for a consumer in a CAS system, where he pays only for channels of his choice, does not exceed the average price paid currently, which is generally accepted at around Rs 200.
However, the sources said broadcasters are free to price their channels within the announced MRP. For example, a broadcaster having multiple channels can price its main or driver channel at the MRP ceiling while pricing the relatively less-watched channels lower.
The broadcasters will also be allowed to sell bouquets of channels. However, the sources said that broadcast regulator TRAI, which will oversee the pricing and standardization issues, will ensure that the bouquet prices are not so low that the consumer is forced to opt for them instead of going in for individual channels.
TRAI will also be playing a major role in the process. Not only will it be monitoring the pricing announced by the channels, it will also help implement and standardise the revenue share arrangements agreed upon between the various players, which will be later formalised by the government.
As part of the standardisation process, the government plans to work out beforehand the revenue share arrangement between broadcasters, MSOs and local cable operators. This will be standardised by TRAI, which is also likely to monitor that the agreements are adhered to in the future.
The sources said that the government, which is facing a Delhi high court order to implement CAS by around April 10, will approach the court with the fresh consensus arrangement and outline its strategy for implementation. In fact, it will take along the petitioners, including MSOs, during this to add credence to its appeal.
Asked whether the government will come with a fresh notification, the sources said the new arrangement will need changes. Also, many of the arrangements being worked out -- like on pricing of channels and providing for an adjudication mechanism -- will require amendments.
The government's efforts, they said, would expedite the whole process so that the new system could be notified at the earliest. The 220-day transition period would begin thereafter, they added.
The government has asked various stakeholders to come out with their suggestions on the proposed changes in the current Act by the next meeting, scheduled for Friday.
Implementation of CAS, a brain-child of Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj, had been put in cold storage for the last three years as differences cropped up between various stakeholders, including the cable operators.
Besides, there was uncertainty over the procurement of set-top boxes by consumers, channel pricing issue and hesitation expressed by the concerned state governments.
However, Chennai is the only metro where CAS was made operational, though the response to the system has been poor.Do you want to discuss stock tips? Do you know a hot one? Join the Stock Market Investments Discussion Group