Soft launch for operators, no launch for residents

It wasn't even a blip on Mumbai’s radar. Today should have been Day 1 of CAS implementation. South Mumbai was to have gone under the ne...

It wasn’t even a blip on Mumbai’s radar. Today should have been Day 1 of CAS implementation. South Mumbai was to have gone under the new cable regime, but the city totally ignored the implementation of CAS. All channels continued to be telecast at the old rates, without set-top boxes.

Shiv Sena leader Anil Parab, currently heading the newly-formed Cable Operators Distributors Association (CODA), said: ‘‘People are not yet ready for CAS in Mumbai. Nobody knows the bouquet rates for pay channels. In fact, none of the Multi System Operators (MSOs) has so far distributed set-top boxes to households for this purpose.’’

There are 3,000 members in CODA, all waiting for detailed guidelines for implementation and affordable pay channel rates to be announced, he said.

Story continues below this ad

Anant Patwardhan, president of the Consumer Guidance Society of India, was critical about the government stand. ‘‘All claims made by the government have fallen flat. The Centre issued a circular warning that if operators do not declare their rates by July 15, they shall not carry pay channels. Today is September 1, with no pay channel rates declared yet,’’ he said.

Meanwhile, the Consumer Unity Trust is set to file a public interest litigation challenging CAS. Another case filed earlier by BJP MP Kirit Somaiya, will be heard on September 3 in Bombay High Court.

kolkata, kolkata rain, kolkata rains, west bengal,

3rd highest single-day rainfall in Kolkata after 1978, 1986: Was it a cloudburst?

Cities1 hr ago

A 251.4 mm of rainfall on Monday night forced Kolkata to come to a standstill and at least seven people died while several streets were left waterlogged. Historically, this ranks as the third-highest single-day rainfall for September in the city, behind 369.6 mm on September 28, 1978, and 259.5 mm on September 26, 1986.

View all shorts

Live Blog