Cable TV back but operators up their demands

8220;We want the state government to legalise the trade,8221; said Ravi Singh, its president. The association made these demands in addition to asking for a rollback of the 100 per cent hike in the entertainment tax paid to the state government. The demands came even as the state government accused cable operators of revenue fraud and concealing the actual number of subscribers.

The association was to go in for a meeting with state revenue minister Ashok Chavan late on Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, consumer activists have reacted sharply to the strike and charged the cable operators with holding the city to ransom. Consumer activist Jehangir Gai says: 8220;Entertainment tax is finally paid by the buyer. The cable operators8217; only problem is that they don8217;t want to be an agent to pay the taxes. And they are just camouflaging the price hike. If the consumers don8217;t complain paying higher rates, what problems do the operators have?8221;

Another activist Shirish Deshpande advises subscribers to deduct charges for the two days without cable TV. 8220;More than anything else, the cable operators have throttled news to the city. They run a monopolistic business and they can be booked under the Monopoly and Restrictive Trade Practices Act.8221;

However, subscribers want the government to step in and regularise the chaotic cable TV market in the city. 8220;We pay Rs 150 a month, people living just across the road pay just Rs 60 and subscribers in Bandra pay Rs 100. Why this difference in subscription rates?8221; asks J Fernandez, an agitated resident of Marol. He said his cable operator simply refused to issue receipts for the subscription fee. 8220;They don8217;t want the government to know the actual number of connections.8221;