Date:26/02/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/02/26/stories/2004022606650400.htm

New Delhi

BJP wants CAS deferred

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, FEB. 25. The Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson, V.K. Malhotra, today asked the Centre to defer implementation of CAS (Conditional Access System) till the required "consumer-friendly" amendments to the Act were made or regulations framed. "The issue could be taken up in the next session of Parliament, and till then people should be allowed uninterrupted access to satellite television channels by cable operators," he demanded.

Prof. Malhotra also welcomed the recent recommendations by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on CAS and said that he had written to the Union Information and Broadcasting Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad, highlighting the people's apprehensions on CAS. "Even the Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, and the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, J Jayalalithaa, had written to the Minister highlighting various flaws in the new mechanism."

Stating that Mr. Prasad had assured him that he would decide on the issue in a couple of days, the senior BJP leader said TRAI's recommendation putting CAS on hold for three months was justified, and even the Centre had sought legal opinion on the issue. "Consumers cannot be left at the mercy of unscrupulous cable operators or channels owners. They should be given the freedom to choose from various technologies available in the market. It could be a normal cable connection, CAS or DTH (Direct-to-Home)," he asserted.