MEDIA – September 2006

Consumer groups want CAS across the country
September 06, 2006, Financial Express, New Delhi, India

Plea To Implemented CAS Beyond Metros
Indiabusinessweek.com, September 05, 2006

CUTS against channel bouquets in CAS regime
Aksh Online News, Hyderabad

Country needs an expert to head competition commission
Indiantelevision.com

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Consumer groups want CAS across the country

The Financial Express, September 06, 2006
New Delhi, India

Consumer groups have demanded that CAS be implemented beyond the four metros where it is scheduled to be out.

CAS is currently only in Chennai. However, following a Delhi High Court order in July, CAS will have to be implemented in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata by this year-end.

“The roll-out of CAS in the notified areas of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata should be followed by other regions and cities,” representatives of consumer groups like National Consumer Helpline (NCH), Voice and CUTS have demanded.

“Implementation of CAS in select cities is a welcome step. Ultimately, the entire country should be covered under CAS,” a CUTS official said.

SK Virmani of NCH, said, “The Rs 5 ceiling is high and we want this to further come down to Re 1.” NCH also demanded that advertising on pay channels should be banned.

Plea To Implemented CAS Beyond Metros

Indiabusinessweek.com, September 05, 2006

Even as pay channels owners and cable operators are seemingly unhappy over TRAI's pay structure to implement CAS, Consumer groups and bodies have demanded that CAS be implemented beyond the four metros and also introducing a ban on advertising on pay channels.

Consumer groups such as National Consumer Helpline (NCH), Voice and CUTS are also demanding that the price of Rs 5 per channel should also be further reduced.

According to S N Aggarwal, head of the Delhi-based consumer organization Voice CAS should be extended to areas outside the originally scheduled.” CAS is currently meant only for the metros.

But these are only a small portion of the 68 million cable homes and, therefore, should be extended to other areas as well."

This news item can also be viewed at:  http://indiabusinessweek.com/Industries/Entertainment/cas-implementation.html 
 

CUTS against channel bouquets in CAS regime

Aksh Online News, Hyderabad

This news item can also be viewed at: http://www.aksh.in/channelnews.htm 

Country needs an expert to head competition commission

Indiantelevision.com

NEW DELHI: On a day when the information and broadcasting minister was dwelling on the need to set up a regulatory body for the broadcast sector yesterday, experts felt that India needs to find the best talent to head the proposed Competition Commission and various regulatory agencies.

The reason for this, some Members of Parliament said at a seminar organised by consumer body CUTS, was the country has been "bogged down" with a petty issue of whether such bodies should be headed by retired persons from the judiciary or bureaucracy.

The seminar, attended by MPs and former central ministers like Yashwant Sinha, Dinesh Trivedi and Suresh Prabhu, was organised to discuss and debate the findings of a report recently brought out by CUTS titled `Towards a Functional Competition Policy.' The report identifies various competition abuses that undermine the economy, including those affecting the broadcast sector.

Initiating the discussion with reference to the current stalemate relating to the Competition Act, former finance minister Yashwant Sinha said it was a pity that such an important legislation has run into difficulties because of the petty issue as to who should head the proposed Commission.

Sinha further added that the country definitely needs a National Competition Policy to ensure a competition assessment of all government policies.

"Over the years, we have established several specialized regulatory agencies for various sectors. However, the issue of ensuring accountability of these agencies has not been addressed.

"There is need to establish a mechanism for effective parliamentary oversight of all the regulatory agencies. This also requires the need to develop an appropriate methodology to evaluate their performance," he added.

The Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS) in a report released some time back while welcoming a competition law passed in 2002, which created the watchdog, had said it would be ineffective unless it was independent of government and endowed with the legal power to break up cartels.

In India, the report said, multimillion dollar industries such as steel, cable television, transportation, agriculture and drug retail remain insulated from competition and set prices above market rates.

Taking the discussion further, Prabhu mentioned that the regulators were not born, and there is a need to develop appropriate mechanisms to ensure that strong regulators exist.

Trivedi warned that in the process of reforms, the country might convert public monopoly into private monopolies, leading to a worse situation. He emphasised that regulators and government policies should ensure appropriate level playing field for all.

This news item can also be viewed at: http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k5/mar/mar138.htm