Mumbai: The government is firm on ushering in conditional access system (CAS) in from 31 December, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, reports PTI. An official statement from the ministry has dismissed as "incorrect and misleading'' reports that the deadline for rolling out CAS had been relaxed.

The clarification was in response to reports that a month-long window would be available after the expiry of 31 December deadline and there was no question of any channel being blacked out.

An information and broadcasting ministry official was quoted by PTI as having said that The government would take action, including criminal proceedings, against multi-system operators and cable operators who failed to meet the deadline.

Advising consumers not to defer their plans on CAS, the statement said that no extension to the deadline was possible as the order was based on an order of the Delhi High Court. The ministry does not have the power to order any extension to the date of implementation of CAS.

The transition 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.