The Hindu Business Line : Defer CAS by 3 months: TRAI

THE implementation of the conditional access system (CAS) seems to have been put off again with the broadcast regulator, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommending a further three-month deferment.

This recommendation implies that receiving pay channels without a set-top box in the metros would not be a cognisable offence. However, in parts of Chennai and South Delhi, where CAS has been partially rolled out, status quo would be maintained.

This recommendation comes after the Delhi High Court said that CAS be implemented in the four metros on an experimental basis. According to the TRAI Chairman, Mr Pradip Baijal, "Keeping CAS in abeyance till the consultation process is completed is possible within the High Court order. We are not contravening it in any way." The authority has also consulted the Attorney-General on legal issues involved before suggesting that CAS be deferred. He also reiterated that there were no political compulsions behind the recommendation.

In a letter written to Mr Pawan Chopra, Secretary, Information and Broadcasting Ministry, Mr Baijal said that the regulator has tried to assess the difficulties faced by the consumers, the effects of the implementation of CAS and the problems that arise, including implementation problems and feasibility of conducting legally required activity in this regard.

Hence, it has been suggested that either the July 2003 notification notifying CAS in the metros be denotified or CAS be kept in abeyance for three months.

The TRAI said that the interim recommendation was made after Chief Ministers and Chief Secretaries of Delhi, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal were unanimously against implementing CAS in its present form. Though the various stakeholders - broadcasters, multi-system operators (MSOs) and cable operators had said that CAS would lead to lower tariffs and wider choice, this has not happened due to the absence of a regulatory mechanism. The TRAI also said that issues relating to inter-operability of set-top boxes (STB) also needed to be sorted out.

It further felt that the Chennai market where CAS has been implemented needed further examination. "In the case of Chennai, out of about 2.5 lakh consumers only about 20,000 consumers have reportedly gone in for STBs. Apparently, one of the impact is that some regional channels have converted their pay channels into `free to air (FTA)'. In such cases where the penetration of STBs is very low, the broadcasters would suffer not only on account of truncated generation of subscription fee but also on account of reduced advertisements due to lower viewership and may themselves want a change in the present system," said the regulator.

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