NEW DELHI: The government has announced that there is no specific time frame to set up the Broadcasting Regulating Authority of India.
I&B Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad informed Rajya Sabha on Monday (28 July) morning that the Convergence Commission Bill was still pending with 77 amendments from the standing committee on I&B.
The Rajya Sabha members pointed out during the question hour that the government can use the services of an existing regulator like TRAI instead of wasting government money on a new regulator.
Also, the members were agitated over the issue of CAS and free to air channels. Sanjay Nirupam of Shiv Sena pointed out that the cable operators like Hindujas have been forcing the set-top-box on the consumers. He also asked the minister why there are only 30 free-to-air channels stipulated by the government.
The minister replied that the government has decided on a minimum of 30 free to air channels because at a time of the decisions there were only 35 free-to-air channels. He also said the cost accounting department had reached the figure of Rs 72 for free to air channels.