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NEW DELHI, June 20

THE Prime Minister, Mr A.B. Vajpayee, has given the Information and Broadcasting Minister, Mr Ravi Shankar Prasad, a free-hand to ensure that the CAS (conditional access system) is implemented on July 15.

At a meeting today, Mr Vajpayee also made it clear that the Ministry should take appropriate steps to ensure that the consumer interest is protected. Addressing newspersons after the meeting, Mr Prasad said, "The Prime Minister has told me that subscribers should not pay more than what they are paying now." The Minister had earlier suggested that the monthly consumer bill should be capped at Rs 200.

He also reiterated that the July 15 deadline for implementation of CAS would not be extended and the Government could take steps to ensure that broadcasters fall in line. When asked whether the Government would pressurise the pay channels, Mr Prasad said, "I do not believe in pressure. If CAS has to be consumer friendly, all concerned should work as a team. Everything is not talked in terms of power (of the Government). CAS will open up a whole new horizon." Asked whether broadcasters have intimated any revised rates to the Government, he merely said "consultations are always on."

"If the pay broadcasters do not declare their prices, then according to the notification issued earlier, they would be blanked out," he added. However, sources in the Ministry also added that the Cable TV Act could be amended to bring broadcasters under its purview. There are also talks of bringing in an Ordinance. The Government is also looking at the option of limiting advertisements on pay channels since the subscriber will pay for the channel.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Congress President, Mr Chaudhary Prem Singh, said his party would take to the streets against the implementation of CAS.

The BJP Government was trying to implement CAS at the cost of the common public who would be adversly affected. Mr Chaudhary said "CAS will be an expensive exercise which the majority would not be able to afford," he said adding the party would whip up people's agitation if the Centre tried to implement it against "public will."

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