Summer?s here and the cable wars are hotting up once again.

STAR India issued a public notice on Tuesday, informing viewers serviced by multi-system operator (MSO) Manthan that its bouquet of channels will be switched off on the MSO?s network next month.

According to STAR, one of the largest broadcasters in India, all its channels ? including STAR Plus, STAR Movies, STAR Gold and National Geographic ? will be ?disconnected after one month on account of non-payment of outstanding dues and non-renewal of subscription agreement?.

STAR?s second bouquet, with channels like STAR One, Hungama and two Disney channels, is already off-air on the network.

?There are dues of nearly Rs 1.2 crore as of December 2005, till when we had an agreement with Manthan,? said a STAR official. ?We have also moved Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) to recover the money from the MSO.?

Officials of Manthan, which services nearly 35 per cent of the cable and satellite homes in the city, claimed STAR was trying to create problems for MSOs before launching its direct-to-home service. ?It?s not only Calcutta or Manthan, STAR has problems with MSOs across the country,? a Manthan spokesperson said.

STAR also claimed that Manthan had been trying to reach a much lower settlement figure. ?We sent a cheque for Rs 26 lakh, which we believe is the right outstanding amount, in December, but STAR refused it,? countered Manthan.

The broadcaster is locked in a similar dues battle with city-based Indian Cable Net, an arm of MSO SitiCable, in TDSAT. ?We will also have to take a call soon on Calcutta Communication, the other arm of SitiCable,? the STAR official said.

Along with Manthan, SitiCable had switched off STAR?s second package some time ago.