Conditional Access System will be rolled out in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata from December 31, the government said on Friday.
"There is no possibility of any extension to the deadline. In fact, government will take action, including criminal proceedings, against MSOs and cable operators who defy the deadline," a senior information and broadcasting ministry official told PTI.
Also, an official statement dismissed as 'incorrect and misleading' reports that the deadline for rolling out CAS had been relaxed.
The clarification came in the wake of reports that a decision to open up a month-long window after the expiry of December 31 deadline has been taken and there was no question of any channel being blacked out.
Advising consumers not to defer their plans on CAS, the statement said that no extension to the deadline was possible as it was decided by the Delhi high court.
"The ministry of information and broadcasting does not have the power to order any extension in the date of implementation of CAS. The transistion time to run encrypted and unencrypted channels and switching off pay channel signals in unencrypted format began from December 16 and will end on December 30", it said.
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