Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Determined to roll out CAS by July 15, and under tremendous pressure from none other than the Prime Minister, not to mention senior BJP colleagues to keep cable prices low, the I&B Ministry has found a permanent ally in the Finance Ministry.
The latter has bailed out the I&B ministry from time to time ever since the Government felt compelled to roll out CAS by July 15. With D-day approaching, the Finance Ministry has cut the excise duty on domestic set-top box (STB) manufacturers to nil from 16 per cent to boost its local production at cheap prices.
And as expected the importers, the MSOs, came up with their festive offers of a rupee a day for hiring the boxes, after an initial refundable deposit of Rs 999 — on the assumption that people would place their demand.
Moreover, the customs duty festive offer from the Government came with an expiry date of July 31. As to whether consumers have booked their boxes, not much is known. Nothing is known of the number of boxes in the country either. The figures range between two and 12 lakh. The entire cable population in the four metros of Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta and Chennai add upto a 6.3 million.
Along with the excise duty cut, the Government has also reduced basic customs duty from 25 per cent to 5 per cent on certain components — like radio frequency modulator, tuner and the remote control unit to be used in domestic STBs. The pressure to cut has come from local manufacturers’ association Consumer Electronic and TV Manufacturers Association which include DELTRON and the Noble Group — in the business of assembling boxes whose components are imported.
While the Government is doing its bit, the most important players in the cable chain, broadcasters, are in no mood to oblige. With Star sticking to its original price list, while thinking of offering discounts, and Zee mulling over its prices, consumers remain clueless.
