New Delhi, Jan. 8: Some cable operators are beaming pay channels free to subscribers without a set-top box in areas of Calcutta, Delhi and Mumbai where the conditional access system (CAS) kicked in from December 31.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), the cable industry watchdog, describes the problem as “sporadic”, though it did warn multi-system operators (MSOs) against the practice at a meeting in Delhi last week. “This (the violation of CAS rules) is something sporadic,” R.N. Choubey, ad-visor to Trai told The Telegraph.

Pay channels are available in CAS areas only in the encrypted form. MSOs are supposed to encrypt pay channels before distributing them to local cable operators. But some cable operators are beaming pay channels to homes that don’t have set-top boxes yet. Legally, they should be getting only free-to-air channels.

Some cable-operators have been found beaming pay channels illegally for three to four hours. Choubey said they could be doing this to hold on to customers — or to stop them from switching to direct-to-home (DTH) television.

Beaming pay channels free in CAS areas is an offence and under the Cable Television Networks Regulation Act. The law has empowered authorised officers — the police commissioner and district magistrates — to take action against such cable operators.

Only a handful of MSOs — the big players who send the signals to cable operators — cater to the CAS areas in the three metros, but the number of cable operators is over 1,500.

CAS has triggered competition not only between MSOs, but also between CAS operators and DTH firms.

Many homes are still debating whether they should switch to DTH or continue with their cable operator under CAS.

Households opting for CAS are facing delays in activation, but Trai says this is not caused by a shortage of set-top boxes but due to a rush of applications.

Another reason for the delay is that many subscribers prefer to have the boxes installed only in the evenings.

According to Trai, over three lakh set-top boxes had been installed in Delhi, Calcutta and Mumbai till last week.