NEW DELHI: The government today admitted that from the time implementation of conditional access system (CAS) was deferred in the three metros of Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi, not much work has been done by the state governments in this regard.
The federal government of India was still awaiting response from most state governments on setting up of state level implementation committees for CAS.
While the state governments of the four metros had been requested by the Centre to ensure fullest cooperation for smooth CAS implementation, only the West Bengal government had recently constituted a state level committee.
This was stated in the Lok Sabha (Lower House) in a written reply by information and broadcasting minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
On whether there were possibilities of CAS being rolled out in some cities, the minister said as per the Cable TV (Networks) Regulation Act, 1995 the centre may make it obligatory for every cable operator to transmit or retransmit programmes of any channel through an addressable system from the date specified in the notification and from different dates as may be specified for different states, cities and towns.
Prasad also stated that the matter of regulating advertisement on pay channels was under “consideration”. He was, however, quick to add that the matter did not fall within the purview of the CATV Act.
On the programming front and the rules and regulations, the I&B minister said that notices had been sent to several channels to take off serials and programmes on the grounds that they did not conform to the programming code.
The programmes/serials which were asked to be taken off air or the channels that were asked not to air a particular episode include Temptation Island (a reality show on Star World) and serials Kavita, Kyunki Saas and Ram Khilawan CM. Some horror serials like Sssshh Koi Hai were asked to telecast after 10 pm, the minister said.
The decisions, Prasad said, had been taken after an inter-ministerial committee made certain recommendations.
An advisory was also sent to the Indian Broadcasting Foundation to direct its member channels to strictly adhere to the provisions of the programming code. “This is a continuous process. No repetitions of violations have been reported,” the minister stated.
