The Hindu : Amendment to Cable TV Act likely

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 08, 2002

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National

Amendment to Cable TV Act likely

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI MAY 7. Now that the Consultative Committee for Information and Broadcasting has cleared the proposal for a Conditional Access System (CAS) to allow cable television subscribers the option of choosing and paying only for the channels of their choice, the Ministry is likely to seek Cabinet approval for an amendment in the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act 1995.

That the Ministry is eager to have the amendment in place before this session of Parliament is through was disclosed by the Information and Broadcasting Minister, Sushma Swaraj, on Monday. And, in anticipation of such a move by the Government — which, as per the proposal, will also regulate the subscription rates of free-to-air-channels — cable television networks in many areas have hiked their charges in the hope of raking in as much money before the regulatory mechanism comes into effect.

According to the amendment, CAS will be introduced in a phased manner — beginning with the metropolitan cities — and mandatory only for subscribers of pay channels. While the pay channel subscribers will have to invest in set-top boxes to access them, those wishing to see only free-to-air channels can receive them in the current mode.

Though the Ministry is hopeful of the cost of set-top boxes falling with greater demand, they are likely to be priced in the vicinity of Rs. 3,000 to begin with. The Bureau of Indian Standards has apparently been contacted to prescribe a standard for set-top boxes and the Cost Branch of the Finance Ministry has been requested to provide inputs regarding the pricing of the basic tier of `free-to-air' channels as the amendment seeks to empower the Government to fix the cost of these channels. While the Government will have the power to revise the cost of free-to-air channels from time-to-time, there is no provision to regulate the rates of the set-top boxes or the pay channels. There will be a special provision for DD channels.

The amendment seeks to put in place a supportive Subscriber Management System that will enable the Government to monitor the subscriber base for each channel.

While this is being billed as an advantage for States as the technology will not allow cable networks to under-declare while paying the entertainment tax, it is also expected to stabilise the advertisement rates of the channels.

The amendment for introduction of CAS has been drafted in line with the recommendations of the task force that had been set up by the Ministry on September 25, 2001, to allow the viewer a say in what he watches through cable instead of being forced to accept whatever is being ``dished out'' by the networks.

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