The government might put off the conditional access system till a suitable time when the ground is ready for a rollout.

"We are not sure of the preparedness for the roll-out. There are no new rates by the broadcasters and the set-top boxes are not in place. These were the two preconditions for CAS. The postponement of the rollout is an option open to us," said a government functionary.

When contacted, a senior minister said the decision could not be disclosed at this point of time.

If it happens, this will be the second time the government has postponed CAS. Originally scheduled to be implemented in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata from July 15, the government put it off till September 1 a few days before the original deadline.

The move assumes significance because the agreement reached on July 4 at the prime minister's office seems to be falling apart with both cable operators and broadcasters turning back on their promises.

While the broadcasters have said they will be able to waive the subscription fee for only a month and not four months as originally agreed, the cable operators want the subscription fee for free-to-air channels to be raised from Rs 72 to Rs 180.

Meanwhile, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Union Law Minister Arun Jaitley met Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Thursday. However, the ministers refused to divulge what transpired at the meeting.

Another reason that has made the government think in terms of postponing CAS further is pressure from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to put it on the backburner till elections in various states are over.

"With inadequate preparation at the ground level, it could go against the party," sources said, adding that the government was still not sure about the availability of set-top boxes in the country.

The government wants to cap the advertisement time on pay channels, regulate the prices of the channels and ensure that the broadcasters do not raise the prices of their channels frequently.

In election mode

This week's decisions

• Old-age pension:  To woo retirees, the Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana, promising 9 per cent returns, has been launched
• Farm loan rate at 9%: Targeted at the 130 million farmers, the interest rate on farm loans has been slashed to a single digit
• Nalco sell-off postponed: No divestment in Nalco for the time being