The Hindu : New Delhi News : Majority of subscribers unhappy with CAS

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 19, 2007
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New Delhi

New Delhi

Majority of subscribers unhappy with CAS

Staff Reporter

70 p.c. subscribers prefer to go back
to the earlier
cable TV regime

NEW DELHI: Asserting that a vast majority of the subscribers of the newly introduced Conditional Access System (CAS) for television watchers in South Delhi are “not happy” with its implementation, the Voluntary Organisation in Interest of Consumer Education (VOICE) has recommended that the Government consider holding the system back till the “various problems are resolved”.

According to a new survey carried out by VOICE, 70 per cent of the subscribers in South Delhi would prefer to go back to the earlier cable television regime than continue with CAS.

“Based on detailed interviews with 1,000 subscribers, 15 cable operators and one multi-system operator (MSO) across South Delhi, the survey gave some interesting insights into the problems being faced by the subscribers in the CAS-mandated region. More than half (53 per cent) of the subscribers feel that their expenditure per month on cable television has increased,” said VOICE executive director Bejon Misra at a press conference here on Tuesday.

Releasing the findings of the study on implementation of CAS in South Delhi, Mr. Misra said: “Forty per cent of the subscribers admit that the reception quality has not improved post implementation of CAS. The complaint redress system also leaves a lot to be desired with 35 per cent subscribers not happy with the existing mechanism. Almost 35 per cent of the cable TV viewers have unauthorised subscriptions and are getting pirated signals.”

VOICE, a non-government organisation, will now present the report to the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry, the Delhi Chief Minister and the Chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

“The main objective of CAS was to introduce technology to improve picture quality and make it more affordable to the subscribers. However, the study has revealed that the regulator is always pro-active to frame rules and regulations but least interested in its effective and efficient enforcement,” said Mr. Misra

Referring to billing problems, he said more than 36 per cent of the subscribers had complained that their set-top boxes do not work properly.

“If one of the objectives was to reduce the burden of subscribers, this has definitely failed…. The survey also found that many subscribers were not fully aware of the workings of CAS,” the study revealed.

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