Cable operators in Mumbai continued to block all television channels for the second day on Tuesday and have asked the Maharashtra government to come out with clear regulations for telecasting movies on channels.
"We are awaiting a clear cut regulation from the government for the telecast of movie channels. We are only service providers, and not the producers. The onus also lies with the Broadcasters and the DTH operators who are going scot free," Cable Operators' Association president Ganesh Naidu said.
"We are also meeting Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil tonight (Tuesday night) and will decide about the resuming the telecast only after that," Naidu added.
Cable operators have also filed an intervention petition in the Bombay high court, asking why broadcasters and direct-to-home operators were not being taken to task by the authorities.
The petition is likely to come up for hearing on Wednesday.
However, the woman at the centre of the controversy, Pratibha Naithani, who filed the public interest litigation that has led to action against the cable operators, said the cable operators had no right to complain when they had refused to follow the provisions of the Cable TV Network Act.
"The Act says that cable operators should block the transmission of movies with A or U/A certificate. How can they protest when they waited for so long to implement the provisions of the Act," Naithani said.
"I think implementing CAS is the best solution for this problem. That way the consumer is paying for what he wants and is not forced to pay for channels that he does not even want to view," she added.
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