Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee asked Information and Broadcasting Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to ensure that the consumer did not have to pay a higher cable bill after the conditional access system was put in place.

Prasad met Vajpayee along with secretary in the ministry of information and broadcasting Pawan Chopra and additional secretary Vijay Singh to brief him about the progress in the rollout of the new system.

The minister was asked to use laws, if necessary, to rein in broadcasters.

Sources in the Prime Minister's Office said Vajpayee told the minister that if a "get tough" policy was required with the broadcasters, it should be used. The bottom line was consumer protection, they added.

This means the government is committed to going ahead with the conditional access system, but puts consumers' interests first, even if the July 14 deadline cannot be met.

The information and broadcasting ministry has been negotiating with broadcasters and cable network companies to work out a consumer-friendly pricing scheme, but so far it has been unable to force the broadcasters to provide channels at competitive prices. Thursday's meeting gave the go-ahead to the ministry to adopt a more aggressive posture vis-a-vis the broadcasters.

Coming out of the meeting, Prasad told reporters that there were provisions in the law to regulate the pay channels. "All options are open to me," Prasad said.

"If the broadcasters do not come out with consumer-friendly pricing, they will not be allowed to operate in the country after July 14," he warned.

The policy of public pressure on broadcasters will win political points for the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is conscious of the embarrassment it will face if it implements a system that forces voters to pay more to watch TV channels. The party is, therefore, focusing on just one issue -- television watchers must get more and cheaper channels to watch.

Sources in the PMO said if this meant antagonising the broadcasters, so be it.