Faced with virtual defiance, the information and broadcasting ministry has called a meeting in New Delhi of chief secretaries of Maharashtra and West Bengal along with those of Tamil Nadu and Delhi on September 15 to discuss implementation of the conditional access system in the four metros.

Seeing no sign of CAS being rolled out in Mumbai and Kolkata a week after its take-off date and receiving several complaints from Chennai, the government is likely to take "some hard" decisions after the meeting called by secretary, information and broadcasting Ministry, Pawan Chopra.

Sources said it would be clear by September 20 whether the government would take a decision on cancelling the present notification and come out with fresh dates for the metros, including Delhi, where it was deferred till the assembly elections.

With CAS-related cases pending in the Delhi high court, the government is apparently grappling with a complicated situation.

Sources said the meeting will take stock of the CAS situation in the first zones of Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai where it was to be implemented on September 1.

The West Bengal government has asked the Centre for time till the Durga puja, while the Shiv Sena, has opposed the move to implement CAS in Mumbai before Delhi. The ministry is in touch with the Shiv Sena, sources said.

Additional secretary, information and broadcasting, Vijay Singh is leaving for Chennai on Tuesday to assess the situation and to speak to state government officials.