Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray on Friday appeared to have softened his opposition to conditional access system after a two-hour meeting with Information and Broadcasting Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and a senior official of the Prime Minister's Office.
"Keep consumer interests uppermost in your mind and at the same time address the concerns of the cable operators," Thackeray told Prasad at the meeting held at the residence of the Sena chief in Mumbai.
Prasad, along with PMO official Sudhindra Kulkarni, held the meeting with Thackeray whose party, a key National Democratic Alliance ally, had attacked the CAS.
Prasad later told reporters that "Thackeray's suggestions will be uppermost in my mind so that roll over to CAS is smooth."
Asked about the Sena chief's opposition to CAS, Prasad said: "Thackeray is a senior NDA leader. He has raised some genuine concerns and his concerns are ours as well."
To a query whether CAS will be implemented as per schedule, the minister said: "I hope so."
Prasad declined to comment on Thackeray's criticism that the government would have to 'pay a heavy price' for its decision to force the people to buy set-top boxes priced at Rs 6,000.
The Sena supremo had also alleged 'a London-based business magnate had struck a deal with the government and they want to dump their set top boxes in India.'
"I don't want to comment anything on it," Prasad said when asked to react to that.
Advocate Anil Parab of Mumbai would be accommodated in the task force for effective implementation of CAS to take care of interests of cable operators, Prasad said.
The minister said the government was aware of the cable operators' contribution in the growth of the industry and their interests will be safeguarded.
Prasad said he would be in constant touch with Thackeray and his son, party's executive president Uddhav Thackeray, on the issue.
At Matoshree, Uddhav said the party along with the Centre would review the system periodically. Union Minister Anant Geete and Sena Rajya Sabha member Pritish Nandy were among those who attended the meeting.
Prasad said nearly 70 free-to-air channels would be available to consumers at a price of Rs 72 while they will have to shell out an amount of Rs 200 for free and pay channels and rentals for set-top boxes.
The system will bring more accountability and transparency, he said.
The free to air channels include 25 entertainment, ten news, Doordarshan's national and regional and some film channels.
The response from pay channels about their tariffs was awaited and 'we were likely to receive it by next week,' he said.
Prasad earlier met cable operators, multi-service operators, advertisers and members of consumer bodies here and appealed to all to cooperate with the government in introducing the CAS from July 15.
Prasad, who was on a day-long visit to Mumbai, said Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had asked him to keep interests of consumers on topmost priority while introducing the CAS.
The minister said the cable operators would provide set top boxes to the viewers for CAS and ensure that they give warranty for the product. In case of defective pieces, they would have to replace or repair them, Prasad said, adding any violation of the guidelines would attract penal provisions under the law and the concerned operator would be arrested.
He said the government had to step in only because cable operators, multi-service operators and consumer bodies had failed to resolve the issue amongst themselves.
Mumbai Grahak Panchayat, a consumer body, suggested setting up of a regulator to monitor CAS. Prasad, however, said such a body would not be of much help to the viewers because it may not have consumer bodies on its panel.
