Cable operators threaten Doordarshan blackout

MUMBAI, FEBRUARY 7: Cable operators and control room owners have threatened to ban telecast of Doordarshan channels from February 12 in pr...

MUMBAI, FEBRUARY 7: Cable operators and control room owners have threatened to ban telecast of Doordarshan channels from February 12 in protest of the State Government’s decision to impose heavy entertainment tax on them and recovering it forcibly.

Vasant Patvardhan, President of the Union of Cable operators and Control Room Owners, Maharashtra and Ravi Singh, President of the Mumbai Federation of Cable operators today said the government should stop the recovery of the entertainment duty. Accusing the revenue department officials of using force to recover the amount, they said the government had ignored the recommendations of a committee it had appointed to arrive at a solution after cable operators had gone on strike in August 2000.

The committee had recommended charging a one-time entertainment tax or imposing it directly on television manufacturers. However, the government was not willing to adopt the recommendations under the pressure of the bureaucracy, they alleged.

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The UCCO, in its convention on February 4 has decided to ban the telecast of state-run Doordarshan and Sahyadri channels from February 12 if the government did not concede to its demands.

The state revenue department recently announced it was compulsory for the cable operators to disclose the exact number of cable connection they have issued. Revenue officials have been authorised to lodge criminal cases against those operators found guilty of hiding the actual number of connections.

The entertainment tax has been hiked from Rs 15 to Rs 30 in municipal areas and from Rs 10 to Rs 20 in other areas.