CAS roll out creates inconvenience

New Delhi: As the Conditional Access System (CAS) was rolled out on the eve of the New Year on Sunday, South Delhi people, who do not have a set-top box (STB), could only receive Free-to-Air Channels.

Popular pay channels like Star, Sony and Zee were blacked out from television screens in south Delhi areas like Malviya Nagar, Kalkaji, Lodhi Road, Chitranjan Park, and Vasant Kunj..

According to Roop Sharma, President of Cable Operators Association of India, the demand for STBs had risen manifold just hours after the blackout of pay channels.

"In many areas, there have been a scramble for set-top boxes and cable operators are being flooded with calls from residents to restore their pay channels, especially as it is new year's eve today and many people would like to sit at home and watch entertainment programees on TV," PTI quoted Sharma as saying.

Meanwhile, General Secretary of Joint Front for RWAs Pankaj Aggarwal asked the Government to intervene in the issue as there was utter confusion.

A resident in Kalkaji complained that cable operators were demanding more money than prescribed by the Government. "We were told that we have to shell out Rs 6 per pay channel, even though the price fixed by the Government is Rs 5," she said.

Some of the residents suggested that the Government should limit the advertisement time on pay channels, especially when they were getting subscription money from the people.

Roop Sharma, president of Cable Operators Federation of India, said all efforts were being made by operators to reduce the inconvenience caused to subscribers. "These are all teething problems and I feel these would be sorted out in the coming days," she said.

Ashok Mansukhani, Vice-President at cable MSO Incable, said the demand for STBs has been good. "The demand has been pretty good for the last 4-5 days and is expected to increase further in the coming days, especially as pay channels have been encrypted," he said.

He said InCable, which operates in Delhi and Mumbai, had conversion of 25 per cent of subscribers to the new system in CAS areas. "We expect this to rise to 60 per cent by March," he said.

After many hiccups, CAS comes into force in notified area of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata from Sunday after the Delhi High Court refused to grant an extension to its rollout as requested by the Central Government.

CAS is already in force in Chennai since 2003 though the response in the southern metropolis has been lukewarm.