Better late than never. Conditional Access System (CAS) implementation may be delayed in the metros but the process is firmly on track in the corridors of authority at the Centre, a group of cable operators and multi-system operators (MSO) from Calcutta found out during a marathon meeting on Monday.

The information and broadcasting ministry had called a meeting of the stakeholders ? broadcasters, MSOs, operators and consumer organisations ? from across the country to thrash out the various issues related to the roll-out of CAS. The system enables viewers to select and pay for only the channels of their choice.

The stakeholders were also reportedly told that if they felt the April 10 deadline was required to be pushed back, they would have to approach the court themselves.

A calendar for the implementation will now be drawn up by the representatives of each metro and presented to the government at the next meeting, scheduled for March 31, also in New Delhi.

?The mandate of the meeting was clear from the start ? discuss all the aspects now, so that there isn?t a fallout later, like last time around,? said Dileep Singh Mehta of MSO CableComm, one in the 12 member-strong Calcutta team.

?The government also clarified that it was willing to be the adjudicator of disputes and act as the authority to make agreements between MSOs and broadcasters, and MSOs and operators,? Mehta added.

On March 10, Delhi High Court, delivering a verdict on a petition filed by an MSO alliance, had asked the Centre to implement CAS within four weeks in the metros.

Issues taken up at Monday?s meet included whether CAS should be implemented in the manner and in the areas as per the Centre?s last notification, the date of implementation and period of preparation, and the role of the stakeholders in the process.

But what took up most of the 10-and-a-half-hour meeting, chaired by information and broadcasting ministry secretary S.K. Arora, was the aspect of channel pricing.

?A demand was made that broadcasters declare the maximum retail price of each of their channels and offer them a la carte, instead of in the present bundled form,? said Mrinal Chatterjee, a city operator present at the discussions.

City MSOs and operators will now hold discussions among themselves to prepare an implementation calendar.