The New Nation - Internet Edition

Sheikh Arif Bulbon

The move to streamline the cable operators violating policies set by the government is being stalled by poor response from the subscribers, said authorities concerned.

However, an inadequate publicity campaign about the initiative is one of the main reasons behind the poor response, said a number of subscribers and operators.

In a bid to identify and take action against the cable operators who overcharge or cheat their subscribers, the Ministry of Information recently asked the subscribers to lodge formal complaints against the violators.

With the exception of handful of complaints, the viewers in general did not make the effort to lodge any complaint, said officials of the Controller of Licence Department, which is located at Bangladesh Television (BTV) Bhaban at Rampura in the city.

Another official requesting anonymity said, "Most of the people out there are not even aware that they can mail their complaints regarding this issue. The ones who know have no idea how to reach us."

The cable television industry grew immensely over the years, as have the irregularities and anomalies in the industry. Extensive campaigns are a must to reach the millions of viewers for making them aware of their rights as well as the violations that are being committed by the operators, he added.

Being disappointed at the poor response from the subscribers, an official said, "People in our country are too docile and tend to remain silent over most wrongdoings happening around them."

Making a phone call or writing a letter is more of a hassle to them than overpaying the operators month after month, he added.

Anwar Parvez, President of Cable Operators Association of Bangladesh (COAB), said, "There are 780 cable operators and 4,000 feeder operators across the country. More than 21 cable operators and their 350 outlets are providing services in Dhaka city alone."

"We have invested Tk 120 to Tk 130 million from 1992 to date. At present, there are 732 members in COAB. There are 2,00,000 customers for pay channels and more than 500,000 customers for free to air service. Our total turnover stood at Tk 500 to Tk 600 million in the last fiscal year," said COAB President.

The licensing department has so far taken action against a few cable operators relying solely on reports published in newspapers.

"Although we received some complaints from a few cable viewers over phone, we had to rely on newspaper reports to identify some of the cable operators who are allegedly defying government-set policies," he said.

Around 12 cable operators - mostly operating at East Rampura, Mirpur and Mohammadpur areas - have been asked to show cause for violation of the policies, according to sources at the department.

In response to the show cause notices, while most cable operators made apologies and gave assurance that they would be in full compliance with the government regulation by the next month, the rest denied the allegations.

"We sent our investigation teams to the locations from where we received the complaints. After enquiry, the teams took necessary action and served show cause notices to the operators," said Ahsan Habib, licence officer.

"We will continue to watch the activities of these operators along with a number of others and cancel their licences if the situation demands," he said.

The licensing department will soon start making a list of cable operators who are doing business without valid licences, said Habib.

Amid a public outcry over gross violations of government policies by cable operators, the Information Ministry earlier asked harassed viewers to call or mail their complaints, thoughts or suggestions to the department at BTV.